Wineries around Nashik district are hoping to generate as much revenue as they can during the Kumbh Mela when Nashik will witness close to a crore visitors. Wine sales are expected to rise by 20% during the period.
Besides, wineries are also in talks with tour operators to plan trips for tourists that include a visit to the vineyards where they will be offered a wine tasting tour along with food and stay. According to the sources, Nashik witnesses close to 10 lakh litres of wine sales a year. The wineries are eyeing up to 20% hike — that is, sale of additional 2 lakh litres — during the mega religious congregation that begins on July 14 and will continue until August 11, 2016.
“The Kumbh Mela is commencing from July 14 this year and pilgrims and tourists from across the country as well as overseas will be visiting the city during this period. Besides going to the temples, the tourists would also want to explore Nashik and even visit the wineries. We are expecting at least four to five pilgrims out of 10 to visit the wineries. Keeping this number in mind, we anticipate a 20% hike in wine sales as well,” said All India Wine Producers’ Association (AIWPA) Shivaji Aher.
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Aher, who is also the owner of the Renaissance Winery located along the Mumbai-Agra highway (NH-3) near Ozhar, said, “We are providing a wine tasting tour to the visitors along with food at our restaurant located in the premises of the winery. The tourists’ visits are also being planned.”
Secretary of the AIWPA Rajesh Jadhav said, “The wine industry was at its nascent stage during the last Kumbh Mela held in 2003. But in a span of 12 years, Nashik has emerged as the wine capital of the country. Thus, tourists who come to the city for Kumbh will definitively want to visit the wineries and vineyards in Nashik as well as buy the local wines. We are in talks with tour operators to plan trips to wineries for their clients. We will be selling wines at reasonable rates.”
The wineries are eyeing up to 20% hike — that is, sale of additional 2 lakh litres — during the mega religious congregation from that begins on July 14, 2015 and will continue until August 11, 2016.
Coordinator for wine tours in the district Manoj Jagtap said, “We are in the process of chalking out wine tours for pilgrims from across the country and overseas. “We have already booked wine tasting tours for 40 foreigners who would be visiting the city during the Mela. The tours will last an entire day and include visits to the vineyards, the winery, wine tasting as well as food.”
Vice-president of Sula Vineyards Neeraj Agrawal said, “We have set up a wine tasting room especially for tourists visiting our winery. Since we are expecting a large number of tourists visiting the winery during the Mela, We are holding talks with different tour operators to facilitate the visitors. Sale of Sula wine in Nashik is close to 7 lakh litres and we expect close to 15% hike in sales this financial year thanks to Kumbh.”
When contacted, Datta Bhalerao, president of the Travel Agents Association of Nashik (TAAN), said, “We are getting enquiries from various wineries for organising wine-tasting tours for pilgrims. We have tied up with some wineries and have made a package of a day-long tour to four wineries in Nashik at a cost of INR 1,550 for each person. We will take the tourists to four wineries in Nashik that will include wine tasting, lunch and tea or coffee. We are also preparing alternative packages for the tourists to choose from.”
