A Nashik winery has become the first in India to commercially plant an Italian grape here. Vintage Wines, which started producing the Reveilo label from its 100-acre vineyard in 2000, planted the Grillo white grape and Sangiovese and Nero d’Avola red grapes, all from Sicily, in 2006. Unfortunately, not enough of the Sangiovese crop was ready to harvest and it was let to grow for another year. Thus the Grillo and Nero D’Avola were harvested in 2009 and went on sale in April.

“I was in Siciliy, and our Italian wine consultant handed me a Grillo blend and I liked it so much that I thought we could make it here,” says director of Vintage Wines, Yatin Patil (36). Until then Reveilo, like most Indian wine producers, had only planted the French grapes, Syrah, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon in India. “We have an Italian winemaker and he said Sicilian varieties would do well in the Nashik climate, as it is close to that of Sicily, and since I was bringing Grillo, I looked at what else I could bring here” he explains. “They both grew very well and adapted nicely to the climate. The mortality was less than five per cent, which is better than in regular varieties,”