A toast to a passion

Ice People

He's a solicitor, a company secretary and an information technology company head. That's quite an achievement for anyone.

But if you think that Aftek Infosys boss Ranjit Dhuru is resting on his laurels, think again "� Dhuru wants to produce the world's best wine here.

Dhuru was introduced to wines on a visit to California and then started learning more about wines. His quest for the best wines ended at Bordeaux, the wine making district of France.

Although he read everything on wine that came his way, he spent over 20 days in the Bordeaux valley learning all about the fine art of making and storing wines. Driven by his passion to produce the world's best wine in India, he joined hands with oenologist Athanase Fakorellis.

Five years ago, he bought 60 acres of land near his home town, Nashik (he later acquired another 40 acres). His winery at Dindori is called Chateau d'Ori and Dhuru expects to roll out by 2005 half a million bottles of wine that will taste a lot like Bordeaux wine.

"Right from harvesting grapes to the final bottling of the wine, we will follow the Bordeaux way," says Dhuru.

He's earmarked five acres at his vineyard for a nursery of French varieties "� Cabernet Sauvinon, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot, Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

But till the wine rolls out, he intends to familiarise Indian palates with wine by importing French wines and selling them here.

Dhuru clearly feels that he hasn't yet done it, seen it, all. He changed Aftek Infosys from a hardware to a Rs 100 crore software firm with subsidiaries in Germany, the UK and the US, trained as a solicitor and as a young man worked at Kanga & Company as an intern. But has he now dumped his interest in technology?

Not so. Dhuru is now using technology in his new passion. He realised while marketing wine that wines lose their sparkle, texture and "the right consistency" when not stored correctly or at the right temperature. His solution? Using computer chip technology for coolers to help store wines at the correct temperature.

"It is said that wine should be served at room temperature which in France is around 17-18°C. However, Indian room temperature far exceeds that. Our coolers do not have compressors that vibrate and harm the texture and consistency of wine. The computer chip technology used will help to maintain the finesse and texture of the wine," says Dhuru.

In other words, once a tech man, always a tech man.