The journey across Haryana’s Industrial Growth Centre in Bawal is a lonely one, with nothing but scores of service ancillaries and factories in sight for miles. It is, therefore, a shock to find a winery — one that carries the distinction of being the first in North India — in its midst. Spread across two acres, the white building with its manicured front lawn is reminiscent of a European manor house. Upon a closer look, the intention of the architect is clear: the estate bears an uncanny resemblance to a more iconic structure — The White House.
The winery was set up in 2010 by Nirvana Biosys — a young company itself, established in 2008 — as a joint venture with Mauritian winemaker E C Oxenham & CY (which has been in the wine business for over 75 years). At the entrance, a signboard greets us : “LUCA de Indi — Pride of India”, the label of domestic wines owned and sold by the company. The management wished to introduce a label which was “foreign sounding”; naturally, ‘LUCA’ fit the bill. “We wanted an Italian connection. As you know, ‘Luca’ is a common first name in Italy,” explains Nirvana Biosys Joint Managing Director M K Rustagi. What’s more, the label is also inspired by famous Roman wine tasting connoisseur and analyst, Luca Maroni.
But that’s not where the Italian connection ends. Looking around at the sprawling estate which houses an automatic bottling plant and a wine-tasting floor, the obvious question comes to mind: where is the vineyard? Well, there is none. Every three months, grape juice arrives from Sicilian vineyards in Italy, in 40-feet containers to meet the winery’s demand. “Depending on our need, we may order two to three containers,” says Rustagi with a shrug.
The harsh climate and soil conditions in North India are unfavourable for viticulture (the science of growing grapes) which is why “importing wine juice is a standard practice in many countries, though wine purists might find it unusual,” explains Bangalore-based wine consultant Alok Chandra. Having visited the Nirvana Biosys winery months after it was set up, he adds, “It has grown amazingly since its inception. It is the fastest growing new wine company in the country.”
With a motto to sell “affordable” wines, the company has priced all its wines — LUCA Cabernet Sauvignon, LUCA Merlot and LUCA Sauvignon Blanc among others — between Rs 220 and Rs 780. All are sold by the company in 11 Indian states in over 1,100 outlets.
“In March this year, LUCA Wines acquired 30 per cent market share in Delhi, in the domestic wine segment,” says a proud Rustagi. He doesn’t say much about the national sales. The wines are also sold in Dubai, Japan, Nigeria and Hong Kong. “Around 2.5 per cent of the sales goes to E C Oxenham as a royalty,” he adds.
The Mauritian winemaker holds six per cent equity in the company.
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Abuzz with activity and the grinding noise of machines, the bottling plant on the ground floor of the estate is an overwhelming sight. Twelve large stainless steel containers fill up the room — the plant has six fermentation tanks with a capacity of 20,000 litres, four tanks of 10,000 litres and two tanks of 5,000 litres each. Climbing a thin, somewhat treacherous path to get a closer look at them, we are assured that the fabricated platform can hold the weight of 20 heavy persons. As we enter, the aroma of grape and — unexpectedly — litchi wafts in. Made “authentically” from shahi litchis from the Muzaffarpur district in Bihar (a region famous for the same), we are told, the LUCA Exotic Lychee wine is a recent invention of the winery.
“Their litchi wine is very aromatic, has a nice balance of flavours and an off-dry taste,” says Chandra. “It is a misconception that litchi wines are supposed to be sweet,” he adds. The company might be trying too hard when it comes to presentation — several bottles are accompanied with “Pick Me Up” and “Take Me Home” tags.
In another section are Zoya Assemblage Classique and She Rose (in a predictable pink bottle and seal), wines created specially for youngsters and women respectively. She, a sparkling wine, finds Chandra, is “much sweeter and a pleasant wine for a Sunday afternoon.”
The raw material is crucial to produce excellent results in wine-making, says Rustagi. For its mango wine, the company has bought totapuri mangoes from Uttar Pradesh.
In a room labelled “Laboratory” sits winemaker Phillipe Nicholas Grant. In his late twenties, Grant was trained in Mauritius under Patrick Oxenham, the chief winemaker at E C Oxenham & CY as well as Nirvana Biosys. “Wine runs in my blood,” jokes Grant. “I have to taste the wine at different stages of fermentation to ensure the levels of sugar, acidity, aroma and flavour are balanced.” Oxenham too visits the winery four times a year and “spends his days and nights making wine,” adds Grant.
A small staff of 14 workers — which includes a supervisor and an accounts manager — looks after the winery. Looking around, it is evident that the machinery has been imported from France and South Africa; the bottling equipment is of an Italian make, bearing the label “Bertolaso”. A pre-bottling filter removes dust particles from the fermented wine. “Our wine is finer than the water you drink,” says Vikas Sahwal, who looks after the machinery at the plant.
The bottling section is a whirlwind of activity with workers manning different stations along a conveyer belt — all under the watchful eye of Grant. The process is a cyclical one, performed with clockwork precision: two workers arrange the glass bottles (some bought from local manufacturers, others imported from Sri Lanka and China) on the belt. The bottles are then washed, checked thoroughly for cracks before wine, sparkling and distilled, is poured into them through separate bottling lines. The bottles are then sealed by the machine. “If there is even a minute gap, the wine runs the risk of getting oxidised,” warns Grant.
While the bottling line for sparkling wine — imported from Liatech France — has a bottling capacity of 1,000 bottles per hour, the line for distilled can bottle up to 4,500 bottles in an hour.
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A winding staircase leads to an unfurnished room; the walls are adorned with a painting or two. “This will be the wine-tasting floor,” informs Rustagi. In a bid to encourage “wine tourism”, specifically in North India, Rustagi is in talks with “private companies”, certified sommeliers and the Haryana Tourism department to set up a multi-cuisine restaurant, a showroom for wine accessories ( “stylish” bottle openers and holders, he says) and a spa — all within the estate. He hopes that the winery’s “strategic” location on NH-8 will attract tourists travelling to Rajasthan and Agra.
“We have invested over Rs 30 crore in the winery till now,” says Rustagi. While the company still hasn’t broken even, he is hopeful profits will pour in within the next two years. He goes on to relate a funny tale: “When we approached the Haryana government for licence to make and sell wine, they said we didn’t need one,” he laughs. “The government knew about whisky, beer and other spirits, but the word wine was not in their dictionary!"
The wine market in India is nascent yet highly competitive, he adds. “And we can’t advertise the product either!” The big challenge is to get noticed in the market first. “We have paid up to Rs 10,000 to display our wines on the top shelf in a {wine and beer} shop,” he confesses.
As we leave, Rustagi recounts an incident outside a wine and beer shop in Khan Market in Delhi. “It was a shop with a wide consumer profile — from a rickshaw puller to a customer with deep pockets,” he remembers. “One of them asked for six bottles of LUCA wines. And he waited 30 minutes for them!”