Qualla: Sula Vineyards

Sula Vineyards: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sulawines1234, CC BY-SA 4.0. Rajeev Samant was working at Oracle in California when he decided to do something that, in 1990s India, sounded mildly absurd. He would go home to Nashik, a city 180 kilometers northeast of Mumbai known primarily for its onions and its Hindu pilgrimage sites, and grow wine grapes. India had no wine culture to speak of. There was no domestic Sauvignon Blanc, no Chenin Blanc, no Riesling. Samant planted his first vines anyway, named the winery after his mother Sulabha, and crushed his first vintage in 1999. A quarter century later, Sula Vineyards is India's largest wine producer, and Nashik calls itself the Wine Capital of India, a title that would have drawn blank stares when Samant put his cuttings in the ground.

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Image: Sulawines1234 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Sula Vineyards: Grapes Where No One Expected Them

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mahi29, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Nashik region sits at an elevation of about 600 meters on the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, shielded by the Western Ghats from the full force of the monsoon. The combination of altitude, moderate rainfall, and significant day-night temperature variation creates conditio...

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Image: Mahi29 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Sula Vineyards: Thirty Wines and a Sparkling Shiraz

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Princerocky2021, CC BY-SA 4.0. From that initial planting, Sula expanded into over 30 varietals. The portfolio spans the full spectrum: sparkling wines matured for months in oak, a Brut Tropicale blending Chenin Blanc with Shiraz and Riesling, India's first and only sparkling Shiraz, and a late harvest Chenin ...

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Image: Princerocky2021 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Sula Vineyards: Beyond the Bottle

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit DhanashriP26, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sula recognized early that Indian wine culture would not emerge from retail shelves alone. The company built two wine resorts near its Nashik plant: The Source at Sula and Beyond by Sula. A tasting room at the winery introduced visitors to proper wine evaluation, while a second t...

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Image: DhanashriP26 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Sula Vineyards: Sunlight on the Vines

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sulawines1234, CC BY-SA 4.0. Over half of Sula's energy now comes from solar panels installed at the Nashik winery. The company's packaging is 99 percent recyclable, and it has planted more than 30,000 trees around Nashik in recent years. Sula Vineyards listed on both the National Stock Exchange and the Bomb...

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Image: Sulawines1234 | CC BY-SA 4.0