Sula Dindori Viognier, Sula Vineyards, Maharashata

Tasting Note

Typical tropical fruit of apricots and peaches on the nose. Full bodied, rich and opulent tropical fruits on the palate with a distinctive mid palate fruit sweetness and long minerally finish.

Producer Note

Situated in Nashik, India's largest grape-growing region, Sula Vineyards was set up in 1997 by Rajeev Samant & Kerry Damsky. They pioneered the French grape varieties Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc which were first released in 2000 to wide acclaim as India's best white wines. Sula now cultivates Shiraz and Zinfandel amongst other international varieties and broadly recognized as India's premium wine producer.

Vineyard

The Viognier grapes come from their hillside vineyards in Dindori with gentle slopes and gravel red soils rich in iron and calcium. Green harvesting took place to allow a handful of grape bunches to remain and reach optimum maturity. The microclimate at this site, is due to the presence of a huge lake which provides a uniform ripening. The vines are trained high on an Open U or Lyre trellis system and were pruned in the last week of September.

Winemaking

The grapes were manually harvested with sorting in the vineyards, then gently whole cluster pressed and the juice was chilled to about 6°C. The clarified juice was then inoculated to allow a slow cool fermentation. Fermentation was carried out in stainless steel tanks lasting for about 25-30 days. The wine settled for another 45 days, after which the tank lots were blended, fined, stabilised and filtered.

Serving Suggestion

A great match for exotic Indian style cuisine

Grape

Viognier 100%