Soon, pop a cork on toy train to famed vineyards of Nashik

Wine producers body plans toy train in Nashik to woo domestic drinkers

Soon, pop a cork on toy train to famed vineyards of Nashik

Wine producers body plans toy train in Nashik to woo domestic drinkers

Ever imagined what it would be like to chug through the bucolic vineyards in the state even as you allow the local wines to stimulate your gustatory senses? Chuck the vicarious pleasure and get ready for the real experience. Vintners in the state have planned a whole new travel experience to get you deep into the heart of Nashik's ruddy vineyards.

Hic, hic, hurray: Tourists will get a taste of wine culture on the planned
toy train. Representation pic

With a view to promote wine tourism in the state and woo domestic drinkers, the All India Wine Producers Association (AIWPA) is planning to start a toy train in the heart of the wine village in Nashik.u00a0 Earlier, the association had convinced the Aviation Ministry to promote Indian wines on flights.

"The association is largely working on promoting Indian wines in the country and abroad. For this we are planning to come up with a toy train in Nashik where tourists will be taken on a visit across vineyards," said Jagdish Holkar, president of AIWPA. "Also, during the journey, the tourists will be treated to the entire wine experience. We are also planning to come up with a few eateries to give the tourists an entire wine and dine experience in one place."

Special packages
To promote their wines at the international level, the association is also in talks with tour operators in the state. "We are in talks with them to make special packages for wine tourism. We will only be able to share more on this once we finalise a deal with them," said Holkar.

Already, in a move to promote wine, the state government has permitted wineries to open retail shops helping winemakers to disburse their excess stock. "We recently met tourism representatives in the Centre and have requested them to help us promote wine tourism in the country as it has huge potential and they have agreed to help us. We will soon give them a presentation on the same," he said.

Wine park
The association recently drafted a plan to start a wine park in Vinsur too and has written to the state tourism department to help it launch the initiative. "All the wineries here are small and we do not have the potential to start a wine park on our own; hence we have appealed to the department to help us get an area on lease. We are ready to run the park by starting restaurants and other things in it. We are waiting for some positive development," said Holkar.

Idea welcomed
Pradeep Sheth, a wine lover, welcomed the move.u00a0"There are very few places that offer visits to vineyards and also they are not handled efficiently. If such a toy train is started in the wine valley of Nashik, I am sure that many people like me will be interested in knowing how the industry works."

Other ideas on the cards
*u00a0Indian wines to be sold in canteens of defence establishmentsu00a0Central Police canteens to sell domestic wines
* Ministry of External Affairs to conduct wine-tasting sessions