Yes. I know. Who knew eh? Wine Tasting India. Not necessarily what you’d expect to hear in the same sentence, but here we are. We tasted wine at Inle Lake, in Myanmar, and as we’re en route from the Ajanta Caves to Mumbai we’re taking a short stopover in the Nashik area of Maharashtra. Here’s how to go wine tasting in Nashik’s wine region. It’s a great day trip from Nashik and you could even make it a day trip from Mumbai too.
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You can tour the wineries of this region independently, you’ll need to get to Nashik and then get yourself either a taxi or a rickshaw driver from there. Alternatively, you can get a wine-tasting tour and come here from Mumbai!
EASIEST WAY TO TASTE WINE
Wine Tasting Day Trip from Mumbai
This fabulous private wine-tasting trip from Mumbai comes with an airconditioned car, and full pick up, you’ll get a tour and tastings at two wineries and lunch at Savor Italy too!
We left Aurangabad on a train at 06:00 this morning after our marathon trip from Kathmandu and our superb visit to the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. The Hotel Preetam was a deliberate choice, as it’s literally meters from the Aurangabad Railway Station. It will take us just under three hours to get to Nashik, where we will find an auto or a taxi to take us wine tasting. We have a train booked from Nashik to Mumbai at 16:25 today. It will be a short visit!
The History of Indian Wine
There was not much known about wine in India until the Portuguese landed in Goa and introduced the concept of port wine. It has been suggested that viticulture was introduced by the Persians as early as 2500 BC, but there are few, if any details available.
The Main Wine Areas of India
There are 8 main wine areas in India. These are Champhai, Goa, Himachal, Kashmir (although grapes are grown, there’s no wine production here yet), Hampi Hills, Kaveri Hills, Nandhi Hills and the Deccan Plateau. We drove through the Nandi Hills, near Bengalaru, back in February, but didn’t stop.
We are in the northern reaches of the Deccan Plateau and the main area, Nashik, is known as the wine capital of India.
The Nashik Wineries
There are seven wineries where it’s possible to visit and taste wine here in the Nashik area. The primary challenge is transport as some are a reasonable distance from Nashik town. The wineries in this area are:
- Sula Vineyards
- York Winery
- Soma Vine Village
- Chateau d’Ori
- Chandon India
- Grover Zampa
- Vallone
How to Go from Nashik Town to Nashik Wineries
We arrive at the railway station in Nashik and grab a dosa masala for breakfast. It seems wrong to wine taste on an empty stomach.
Besides it’s not quite 9 am when we arrive, which seems too early also! Our options for transport should be either an auto or a taxi, however, they’re limited to who can understand us. In the end, we find an auto driver who agrees to take us to the wineries for 500 INR. We think it’s a great deal, he seems to think it’s a great deal. We’re all happy, but more on that later.
We’ve decided to visit just three wineries, as there are three within relatively easy reach of the Nashik Road Railway Station. Nashik Road Railway Station is the train station in Nashik, there isn’t another one. I say relatively easy reach, we certainly wouldn’t be able to walk it. The route is simple, straight out and back, but it’s a 54-kilometre round trip!
We’ll go to Sula Vineyards first, head over to York Winery, and finally take in Soma Vineyards before returning for our train to Mumbai.
Each of the wineries that we’ve chosen has a tasting room and two of them have tours.
Map of Wineries in the Nashik Region of India
You can also see full the map of Nashik wineries here.
How to Visit Sula Vineyards Nashik
It took around an hour to get here from the Nashik Road Railway station, but the roads weren’t too busy. There’s an entry fee of 1000INR (weekend) or 600INR (weekdays) in 2023, which you can redeem in their outlets on the same day. You can go on a short tour, have a guided tasting or make purchases from the gift shop. You can read more about wine tours and tasting on offer at Sula Vineyards here.
It’s a very professional-looking operation, although if you’ve been wine tasting in the USA, New Zealand, Australia, or Europe you may find it a little basic. We were the only foreign tourists here, and the tasting and tour were delivered in excellent English. It’s a lovely setting, and you could almost be in Napa, California. Almost.
Sula is India’s most famous winery. It started in 1999 and takes a 70% market share in India. There’s even a festival here in February each year and a one-day wine appreciation course. Our tour and tasting took us around 70 minutes, by which time our auto driver was getting somewhat agitated and threatening to leave us (we had NOT paid him at this point). The staff at Sula helped us to renegotiate.
The reason we thought we had such a good deal was that he didn’t realize what he was getting into. Ten minutes later and we’d agreed that he would take us to the other two wineries and yes, wait for us while we tasted, then take us back to Nashik Railway Station for 1,000 INR in total. He was concerned, he said because he had to pick his daughter up from school, that’s why he wanted to leave us. The increase to 1000 INR (US$15, GBP11.30) helped him to make alternative arrangements.
Sweet Sula Wine
Sula wine is most definitely targeted at the much sweeter tooth of the Indian market. If you like sweeter wine, then you’ll like this.
The setting is lovely, there’s a great-looking restaurant on the first floor and a lovely air-conditioned store with wine paraphernalia that will satisfy any oenophile. There is, of course, also the opportunity to buy wine to take away with you. Time and auto driver pressing, we moved on less than 2 kilometers down the road to York Winery.
How to Visit York Winery Nashik
It was just a few minutes further along the road from Sula and compared to the crowds at Sula it was empty. Literally. We were the only ones there.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that you’re going into a factory building – it’s not as pretty as Sula until you get inside, then you get a marvelous view out over the lake to one side and inside the winery on the other.
This winery is much more to our taste. Their staff is extremely knowledgeable, and while there was no tour when we were there, the tasting was great. We bought a bottle of the specifically numbered 2012 Arros Shiraz Cabernet to take with us and enjoyed it later in our travels. They also provide snacks here, but we needed to move on and headed, again just a few kilometers down the road to the Soma Vine Village.
How to Visit Soma Vine Village – Nashik
Our final stop was at Soma Vine Village.
We waited until the large group ahead of us finished and had the entire attention of the tasting guide to ourselves. Tasting costs depend on whether you want to taste five or seven wines. We opted for seven in order to taste the sparkling wine.
In our mini wine tasting tour, here in the Nashik area, SOMA wines were unique in the huge variety of grapes used. The differences in wines were also massive. They’re a young winery and it felt as though they hadn’t quite decided who or what they want to be yet.
However. For their first year, this is a fantastic wine. The Sauvignon Blanc is similar to New Zealand Marlborough and the others are very distinctive too.
And with that, we jumped back in our auto, the driver now seemingly worried that we wanted to go back and not to find more wine! Then, 27 kilometers later we were back at the Nashik Road Railway station, next stop Mumbai.
Like Indian food and drink enough to travel for it? Here’s our guide to Awadhi Cuisine in Lucknow, and check out what to eat in Amritsar in the Punjab. Then there’s our guide on what to eat in Jaipur and how to get a beer in Fort Kochi. If you’re more of a wine drinker, then our guide to Indian wine tasting is here.
Wine Tasting India Resources:
- Sula Vineyards
- York Winery
- SOMA Vine Village
- We stayed at Hotel Preetam in Aurangabad
- Like wine from more unique places? Check out our guide to tasting Peruvian wine and Pisco
Travel Tips for Exploring India
- Get Travel Insurance: Civitatis includes medical expenses, repatriation, theft, luggage delays. No deductibles or upfront payments. Get a quote here.
- Get online immediately with an eSIM for India
- Protect your data – use a VPN in India – use this coupon to get 3 months free.
- Book the best tours and guides in India on GetYourGuide or Klook
- Find the right accommodation for you via Booking.com
- Book Trains and Buses in India with 12goAsia
Final Words on Wine Tasting in India
Wine tasting in India is definitely an experience, and we truly enjoyed our day out from Nashik. Our experiences with the rickshaw driver were a little fraught, but it all worked out in the end, and we were all happy. There’s such a variety of different flavors available that you’ll be able to find a wine that suits you in India. Let us know how you get on!
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