Tag Archives: York winery

Celebrating India’s Finest 2017

Celebrating India’s Finest 2017 – All Things Nice, Liebherr and HT 48 Hours presented Celebrating India’s Finest in association with Lifestyle Partner Living Foodz and Hospitality Partner Sofitel Mumbai BKC.

Event Partners include Uber, Pascati Chocolate,  Spiegelau, Jean-Claude Biguine India and Atma

Participating wineries were Charosa Vineyards,  Myra Vineyards,  Sula Vineyards,  Good Drop Wine Cellars, Grover Zampa Vineyards,  Soma Vine Village,  Nine Hills, Oakwood Vineyards Reveilo Wines and York Winery.

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Celebrating India’s Finest 2017

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All Things Nice hosted the 5th edition of ‘Celebrating India’s Finest’, an evening recognizing winners of the ‘Indian Wine Consumer Choice Awards’ held in January. Celebrating India’s Finest was presented by Liebherr and HT 48 Hours in association with lifestyle partner Living Foodz on at Sofitel Mumbai BKC Friday, February 17th 2017

Wineries showcased their winning wines along with their entire portfolio to an audience of absolute wine enthusiasts. Approximately 200 guests including members of All Things Nice, winery owners, ATMA supporters, consulate members, chefs, restaurateurs & hoteliers and professionals from the wine fraternity were seen enjoying the wines on display. Guests enjoyed a free flow of every type and style of wine produced in India. From full bodied reds to fruity whites and dessert wines, there was something for every palate.

Sommelier & CEO Nikhil Agarwal, All Things Nice said “The 5th edition of Celebrating India’s Finest was the biggest that we have put together so far. We had wonderful partners and I’m happy that our guests enjoyed the width of quality wines produced in India.”

Delectable appetizers carefully curated by Living Foodz Chef Rakhee Vaswani in association with Sofitel Mumbai BKC made the night a truly indulgent experience. Guests sipped and savoured your favourite wines in beautiful glassware by Spiegelau. The night was filled with fantastic wine, great food and fabulous company.

Biswajit Chakraborty, General Manager, Sofitel Mumbai BKC said, “Sofitel Mumbai BKC is pleased to have hosted ‘Celebrating India’s Finest’, an occasion that honoured and rewarded, the best of the wineries from ‘The Indian Wine Consumer’s Choice Awards’. We are proud to host a magnificent portfolio of wine winners and wine connoisseurs from across India. In fact, Sofitel Mumbai BKC houses the only wine tower in the city with an array of 800 wines.”

Wining Wineries That Participated

  1. Charosa Vineyards
  2. Good Drop Wine Cellars
  3. Myra Vineyards
  4. Nine Hills
  5. Reveilo Wines
  6. Sula Vineyards
  7. York Winery
  8. Grover Zampa Vineyards
  9. Oakwood Winery
  10. Soma Vineyards

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“Wines of India” programme launched in Mumbai

Since the early 2000s, India has been hyped as an important emerging market for wine. The country has an optimum climate for grape cultivation and its main wine-producing states, Maharashtra and Karnataka, are leading producers of world class grapes.

Keeping the above in mind, the “Wines of India” programme was recently launched at AKA restaurant, Worli, Mumbai. The Wines of India is a collective body set up by 11 leading Indian wineries, as an initiative to support Indian wine within the country and at a global level.

Sommelier Nikhil Agarwal of All Things Nice has been appointed as the Director of this programme; he will conduct retail promotions, consumer tastings, staff trainings, unique consumer experiences and media interaction as part of this initiative.

Nikhil guided us through an interactive, structured tasting of 11 wines – one from each of the participating wineries. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet leading winemakers and owners to understand their services as part of this initiative along with the history and future of Indian wine.

Each winery in the “Wines of India” programme has introduced their unique style of winemaking, interesting grape varieties, technological innovation and marketing expertise.

Wines chosen to be a part of this programme have been selected on the basis of merit and represent only the best India has to offer. The programme is an amalgamation of pioneers like  Sula Vineyards, Reveilo Vineyards, Grover Zampa Vineyards, Fratelli Vineyards, Nine Hills with the more recently launched wineries such as Myra Vineyards, Charosa Vineyards, Vallonné Vineyards, Good Drop Cellars, York Winery and Soma Vineyards.

According to Ashwin Roderigues from Good Drop winery, “The aim is to stand together on an impartial platform and promote a culture of domestic wine consumption in India and overseas. ‘Wines of India’ programme, a  collective body set up by India’s 11 leading wineries is the first attempt of its kind where players in a sector have come together to promote a culture rather than a brand.” 

— Suneeta Sodhi Kanga

“Wines of India” programme launched in Mumbai

Wines Of India

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Wines of India, is a collective body set up by India’s leading wine brands in an initiative to support Indian wine in India and overseas. Wines chosen to be part of the Wines of India programme have been selected on the basis of merit only and represent only the best India has to offer. The programme is an amalgamation of pioneers like Sula Vineyards, Reveilo Vineyards, Grover Zampa Vineyards, Nine Hills, Fratelli Vineyards with more recently launched wineries like Myra Vineyards, Soma Vineyards, Charosa Vineyards, Vallonne Vineyards, Good Drop Cellars and York Winery.

Each winery in the Wines of India programme has introduced their own unique style of wine making, interesting grape varieties, technological innovation and marketing expertise. India, a budding wine nation, has made waves globally by winning awards at the renowned International Wine & Spirits Challenge and Decanter World Wine Awards. Indian consumers are now waking up to the true potential of Indian wine and recognizing that quality standards and wine making styles are now on par with countries that have been making wine for thousands of years.

Wines of India

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Wines of India‘ WOI, a collective body set up by India‘s leading wineries is an initiative to support and promote Indianwine in India and internationally. Wines selected to be part of the Wines of India Programme have been selected on the basis of merit only and will represent only the best India has to offer. The list of participating wineries include Good Drop Winery, Charosa Vineyards, Four Seasons Wines, Fratelli Wines, Grover Zampa Vineyards, Myra Vineyards, Nine Hills Wines, Reveilo Wines, Soma Wines, Sula Vineyards, Vallonne Vineyards and York Winery.


WOI has selected All Things Nice to manage all marketing activities on behalf of the entity, they have also appointed Sommelier Nikhil Agarwal as the Director of the Programme. 

Celebrating India’s Finest at Le Pain Quotidien Mumbai

We recently hosted the 3rd edition of ‘Celebrating India’s Finest’, an evening recognizing winners of the ‘Indian Wine Consumer Choice Awards’, 2015 at Le Pain Quotidien, Colaba on June 13, 2015.

This celebratory evening was in honour of the winners of the 3rd edition of the Indian Wine Consumer’s Choice Awards held at the Sofitel BKC earlier this year. A pool of over 100 wine enthusiasts came together to evaluate premium Indian wines and create a list of their favourites through an unbiased blind tasting technique.

Winning wineries of IWCCA 2015 showcased their portfolio of wine to an audience full of wine enthusiasts at Celebrating India’s Finest this year. Over a 175 guests enjoyed a free flow of India’s best wines in the company of other wine enthusiasts.

A large spread of gourmet cheese and charcuterie by Fortune Gourmet and a selection of delectable appetizers by Le Pain Quotidien, Colaba made the evening even more indulgent. Guests were also seen buying and discussing Rocky Patel cigars brought into India by Cigar Connexion. The night was a combination of fantastic wine, great food and fabulous company.

Titan conducted an auction of an immaculate piece of their Nebula watch brand which raised Rs 81,000 via a silent auction. The entire proceeds from the auction went to Atma, our Charity Partner for the event.

All our guests were treated to complimentary service vouchers from Jean Claude Biguine, Gourmet Jam Jars and vouchers from All Things Nice.

Wining Wineries That Participated

  • Sula Vineyards
  • Fratelli Vineyards
  • Charosa Vineyards
  • Vallonne Vineyards
  • Reveilo Wines
  • Nine Hills
  • Myra Vineyards
  • York Winery
  • Chateau D’ori
  • Grover Zampa
  • Gooddrop Cellars
  • Turning Point

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Article by Nikhil Agarwal for Mumbai Touch Down

I like women and women like me but that’s definitely not enough when you reach the dating-and-beyond stage. After spending a large part of my life in the company of some fine women, I have learnt to understand the art of detail. The thing being, who has the goddamn time??

The mounting workload, the clocking of incessant air miles and the perpetual deadlines leave little room for romance. However, in my journey to find the best wines and cheese located in different pockets of the world I had an epiphany, one that allows you to mix business with pleasure.

Wooing your partner with some fine wine and carefully paired cheese is a heady mix of detail and planning, couple that with a perfect location and you have a sure shot at whatever you are aiming for. Putty in your hands, so to speak.

Wine and Cheese is like Laurel & Hardy, Guns & Roses, Bill & Hillary, and other combinations that are frequently better than either independently. But be careful, you need to do the pairing properly to ensure maximum please and any cheese with any wine will not work. Regions or vineyards that produce fantastic wine usually have very high culinary standards and cheese is an integral part of the whole experience.

You don’t have to know a Cabernet Sauvignon from a Chardonnay to appreciate these destinations – they offer as much peace and scenery as they do great wines. Here’s a look at some destinations that are a winner every time.

We will start off with our very own Nasik. I would recommend making a trip to Sula Vineyards which has done an excellent job in creating a wonderful wine experience. Their tasting room with its breath taking view is one of the most perfect places on the planet in the evenings especially in the colder months. You could head to York Winery which is further down the road for more excellent wine and cheese with an even more dramatic view and then bring the evening to a close less than a km further down the road at Sula’s 21 room only hotel Beyond.

In Akluj, ahead of Pune is the state of the art Fratelli Vineyards with impressive accommodations literally in the middle of nowhere. Get them to hook up a scrumptious sun downer and dinner in their lookout point over the vineyards which are a little away from the winery/rooms for you and your partner. You will have never seen anything like it.

All the above wineries serve generous portions of assorted cheese as accompaniments ensuring that your taste buds are in heaven.

Away from India, if you are heading to the west coast in the United States, I suggest you make a trip to Napa Valley and its surrounding areas which are littered with wineries producing excellent wine. The wineries have tasting rooms, a restaurant or two and rooms that are perfect for some alone time. They even have spa’s so you have an opportunity to go completely all out in pampering her.

Bordeaux in France is another of my favourites; the city is mesmerizing with unbelievable architecture. If you are into wine, this is your mecca and every street corner has cafés and restaurants dishing out incredible cuisine, glorious French cheese with a wine list to match. You can also hire a car and drive into the adjoining vineyard regions, visit some grand Chateaux and carry a picnic basket to make a stop wherever your heart desires. Make sure you make a trip to Saint Emillion, a medieval town on the right of the river Gironde that produces top wines and is simply drop dead gorgeous.

One cannot talk about wine and cheese and of course romance and not bring Italy into the picture. Head to Tuscany, rent a villa or park yourself in the middle of a vineyard and take in the fantastic wines and gastronomy. Maybe after a glass or two you can tell her how much you love her in Italian? Try Castello di Quercetto, a legendary wine producing house with over a 100 years of history. I highly recommend renting one of their apartments and spending some quality time there. Open a bottle of two of their Super Tuscans and she will not be able to resist you. Additionally, your only 25 kilometers away from the lovely city of Florence ! Need I say more? Veneto is another region within Italy that produces fine wine, and with Venice one of the worlds most romantic spots as its main city you cannot go wrong.

In the southern hemisphere if you are travelling to Australia, especially the Southeast of Australia make a trip to the wonderful wine growing regions of Barossa and Mclaren Vale. Try their full bodied reds from the Shiraz grape varietal paired with some local delicacies. I highly recommend visiting the Woodstock Estate in Mclaren Vale for some fabulous hospitality and a charming setting. New Zealand is full of stunning beauty, wineries producing top class wines and world class cheese. Take a trip to Marlborough and visit the legendary Cloudy Bay winery. Also visit the charming Clos Henri winery for an old world kind of wine experience.

There is of course a lot more countries and regions to visit but this should keep you busy for a while and in your partners good books. There are thousands of cheese and endless wines and I hope that you spend a lifetime time taking in their pleasures along with your partner.

Cheers to good loving!

Nikhil Agarwal, Sommelier and Director at All Things Nice – www.allthingnice.in