Sula Vineyards houses The Source at Sula, India’s first heritage winery resort, showcases the origins of winemaking in Nashik, tracing it to 1999, when Rajeev Samant set up base in the northern city of Maharashtra.

With a chance to explore the property, we were taken to Beyond by Sula, their newest year-old premium property overlooking the Gangapur Lake, and a five-minute drive from the original vineyard.

Led by the experts in white wine and red wine – Rupali Bhatnagar and Gorakh Gaikwad, we were not only told to swirl and taste but also recognise the flavours. If this was any indication of how much there is to learn about wine, then the ‘Blending’ session, which followed, taught us how easy it is to make wine appeal to us. The next day saw us being taken to the barrel room to learn not only about storing wine in the barrels but also how it influences the flavour. Guided by Rahul More, deputy general manager - winemaking and exports  and Neil Fernandes - associate vice president and senior winemaker - Red Wines, it is nothing short of revelatory for everybody.

Karan Vasani, chief operating officer with Sula Vineyards, says if people are saying, have white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat, then vegetarians are completely left out and that may not work for India. It is more important to eat food that you can understand. The best pairing with wine is Indian onion fritters and it is awesome. Interestingly, it goes beyond that because what works for some may not work for the other.

As the country welcomes the monsoon season, we leave wondering what it must be like with the rain falling while looking out of the treehouses or taking a cool cycling tour or nature walk within nature’s bounty there but we’ll leave that for next time we are in Nashik.