North Karnataka broadly comprises of the districts of Belgaum (now Belagavi), Bagalkot, Bijapur (now Vijayapura), Gulbarga (now Kalaburgi) and Bidar, with Maharashtra (Kolhapur, Solapur) to the north and Andhra Pradesh (now Telengana, Hyderabad is 150 km from Bidar) to the west. The region, watered by the Krishna River flowing from west to east in the Western Ghats, is part of the sugar bowl of the state - and an unlikely area to find vineyards and wineries.
So readers may be surprised to know that 11 of Karnataka's 21 wineries are located in this region - most are totally unknown, despite having been set up in 2008-09 following the 2008 Karnataka Wine Policy, but have adapted to the market and are still operating.
What has facilitated their survival is the demand for wines (fortified or otherwise) in the economy segment priced at less than Rs 150 per bottle at retail, as well as the producers being able to also supply such wines directly to Wine Taverns in returnable 20-litre plastic carboys. This is unique to the region - none of the wineries in Southern Karnataka supply bulk wine, and of course this is not (yet) permitted in neighbouring Maharashtra.
Of course all the wineries are also making fruit wine (the state excise terminology for wines made from grapes, without fortification), and I do think that some of the wines I tasted during a tour of some of the wineries earlier this week are pretty decent. Unfortunately none of them know much about marketing, and so get trapped into pushing these wines to a spirit-and-beer oriented market, with consequent erosion of net realisations.
There is Dada Winery, 90 km north of Belgaum, off the road to Sangli, which still has stocks of some good Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 and 2012. And Elite Vintage Winery, just outside Mudhol (in Bagalkot district), whose Elite brand of wines are well-accepted in the region, and which till recently was producing and bottling almost the entire range of Sula's wines for sale in Karnataka. Then there is Nectar Winery, near Bijapur, which was bottling Fratelli's wines till last month, and the nearby Krishna Valley winery that has gamely been marketing wines under the Seasons brand. Lastly there is Rico Winery & Vineyards, 15 km from Bijapur on the road towards Solapur, which claims to sell over 30,000 litres of bulk wines per month in the region.
Also near Bijapur is the Hampi Heritage winery from where Fratelli will be sourcing its wines for Karnataka in future, as well as the erstwhile Indian Ambience winery near Bidar where Sula is doing a similar number. Last (but not least) is the most recent addition to the pack: Krsma Estates, the much-acclaimed boutique winery near Hampi that's making waves with the quality of its wines (no, it doesn't do economy-segment wines). And let's not forget the USL Pampasar distillery at Hospet, which churns out Golconda fortified wines along with truckloads of Antiquity, Director's Special, McDowell's and Royal Challenge, among others.
Wine consumption is still miniscule in the region, but what is interesting is that the economy segment stuff heralds the start of a change in the monopoly formerly enjoyed by spirits and beer. Bulk wine still cannot be supplied to normal bars, and as yet there are no consumer packs (at retail) larger than 750 ml - but that may change. And once people get a taste of wine, never mind that it is sweet and strong - perhaps some will graduate to better wines.
Wines I've been drinking: Wines from all the wineries visited. I actually thought that the Rico Strong Red and Rico Strong White wines were the best economy segment wines I tasted during this recent tour: not too sweet (25-35 G/L vs 60-70 G/L of others), with some fruit and acidity. Priced at Rs 100/50/25 for 750/375/180 ml, these are surely worth an unbiased trial.
Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant
