Vino lovers and festival fans are flocking to a wine extravaganza at a vineyard in Nashik, India. Wine producers say India is now one of the fastest growing wine markets in the world, fuelled by a section of young, professional women keen to try a glass. At one of the biggest wineries in India, festival-goers are jumping on a new craze with both feet. At Sula Vineyard in Nashik, around 160 kilometres northeast of the country's commercial capital Mumbai, they're throwing a two-day festival dedicated to all things wine. There's grape stomping, wine tasting, food pairing, music and much more. Hundreds of people - young and old - are attending, a sign of India's steadily expanding wine market. In 2013, India exported almost 1.8 million litres of wine, rising 41.82 percent on the previous year to reach $6.88 million USD. Last year, the wine total production estimate for the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka was 14.2 million litres (1.58 million cases), according to statistics from the Indian Department of Commerce. "And now this is the fastest growing wine markets in the world," says Sula Vineyards CEO, Rajeev Samant. "So it's a great time to be a wine producer here and what we are trying to do here with events like SulaFest is to popularise wine more, de-mystify it, make it more accessible and it's working." Sula Vineyards was originally set up in 1999, when they planted French Sauvignon Blanc and Californian Chenin Blanc grapes. Since then, the vineyard has introduced other varieties of grape including Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Zinfandel, Merlot, Viognier and Riesling. According to Samant, the vineyard expects to produce around 10 million bottles of wine this year, a long way from 1999 when they produced just 50,000. Festival visitors are flocking to the winery's tasting rooms where they can learn about the nuances of wine tasting and food pairing. "When we are talking about the wines we are also talking about which food can go with this particular wine," says chief wine maker, Ajoy Shaw. "Of course, we are not serving the food here but we are talking about that. How to match the texture, the acidity, the flavours with the food." According to Samant, another factor which has contributed to the growth of India's wine industry is the increase in the number of women drinking it. "I used to drink coffee or scotch or typically Indians used to have hard drinks, but wine is sort of getting into the culture of India," says festival visitor, Pammi Singh. "It's a smooth drink to go along with, it has health benefits, so people are kind of shifting to wine." This shift has helped wine makers, according to Sula's CEO. "Women didn't drink, the men drank hard alcohol, the women just didn't drink," he says. "Now it's very acceptable for a young, professional woman, working independent, earning her own income to have a glass of wine after work with her colleagues is absolutely acceptable, and this is a big change that's happened and it's going to drive wine consumption in this country." With an eclectic line-up of musical performances and the promise of good wine, the festival is attracting hundreds of visitors. That includes some foreign tourists keen to enjoy the atmosphere. "As a French girl, I of course have a lot of expectation about wine. It is okay, it is pretty good," says festival visitor and French tourist, Marion. "But what is really nice here is the atmosphere, the overall atmosphere is so good and we are really enjoying our time, and that makes the wine very good." Sulafest 2015 ran 7-8 February 2015. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/21a026c702592d6d32081304867b8991 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 03 Aug 2015
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