In a quiet corner of Nashik Valley, a hundred-acre vineyard and winery is making arguably the best wine in India.
The architects of this home-grown story are Suresh and Yatin Patil, a father-and-son team whose roots go down deep into the rich loamy soil of Nashik: their family has farmed the land for over 100 years, and still continue to export table grapes around the world.
Five years back, when the Maharashtra Grape Processing Policy 2001 was announced, Sureshbhai took a decision - he would make the best wine possible.
In preparation, Yatin quit his job in Mumbai with a multinational company and started Vintage Wines, whose Reveilo label is starting to become selectively available in Mumbai.
The Patils started converting vineyard parcels from table to wine grapes, planting 25-40 acres per year with Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.
I first met Yatin and his father in April 2003 as part of a gaggle of visitors to Vinitaly 2003 - the annual wine fair at Verona.
In the course of the Italy trip they located and signed on Andrea Valentinuzzi (formerly winemaker with Stefano Girelli, of Casa Girelli fame) as their consulting winemaker.
And decided that all their winemaking equipment would be imported from Italy - even the tanks! Naturally they went to Velo - also Italian, and one of the leading winery equipment producers worldwide; the equipment filled ten 40-foot containers when it arrived.
A year before the first harvest they started work on a neo-modern winery built to allow expansion as required, including an air-conditioned basement for oak barrels and casks. The design won't win any awards, but is solid enough to have inspired Seagrams to go hunting for the same architect for their own winery (another story, another time).
The first harvest was taken in February-March 2005, with the Cabernet Sauvignon yields kept down to 1.5 tons/acre (in an area where Chenin Blanc harvests regularly at 6-8 TPA). Vintage has released four wines so far and will also come out with two reserve wines after they have matured in French oak for nine months.
I had tasted the wines en primeur (from the tanks) in September and December 2005, and had been blown away by the quality. The finished products do not deliver on that early promise, witness the tasting notes below compiled together with some knowledgeable members of the Bangalore Wine Club:
And that's why while Reveilo has the potential of being the best wine made in India, it has some growing up to do. But if this is what has emerged from its very first vintage, what's it going to be like a few years down the line, when the grapes really take root?!
Interestingly, the company has decided to price the wines the same anywhere in India and take the hit of differential costs and taxes.
Even more interesting is the company's distribution model: in Maharashtra it is cutting out wholesalers and distributing directly to retailers or bars/hotels to combat the "trade mafia" that demands absurd levels of credit and discounts.
Sales are controlled by Yatin, and marketing activities are managed by his wife Kiran, and we can expect a concerted effort to make wine aficionados aware of Reveilo wines, and to try the drop.
I'm rooting for its success and recommend all readers to try the wines and judge for themselves. In Mumbai, Reveilo is available from Parry (Bandra), Twinkle (Andheri), Juben (Juhu), Nita (Churchgate), Big Boy (Chembur), Peekay (Crawford market) and The Cellar (Malabar Hill). Happy imbibing.