On 27thof Feb, instead of grumbling and making faces, I woke up with a big smile at 5 in the morning. Oh yes! I was all set to press the pause button in my life and unwind at the Pause Winery in Nashik! A bus full of fellow bloggers and journalists came to pick me up at from Thane and we were off.
After a four long drive where I chit chatted non stop, we finally reached the Dindoshi for a press meet. In an interactive and engaging session, we were told about Pause Wines and its history.
Get to know Pause Vineyard better
Nestled in the lush green environs of Dindori near Nasik are the vineyards. Set on around 100 acres of land, the vineyards are owned and promoted by ‘Patil Farms’. The farms are sun-kissed throughout the year and well appointed to nurture the best varieties of wine grapes. The red taterictic soil found here is well drained. It is interspersed with tiny gravels, which help the vine roots to grow deeper and extract rich micronutrients found only deep in the soil.
The vineyards are located in close proximity to the backwaters of the Karanjwan dam, which wrap the vineyards from 3 sides- North, East and South. This envelops the entire terrain in micro-climatic ambience that creates a cooling effect for the wines. The maximum temperature observed here in summer is 32C and minimum temperature in winter is 8C. This wide temperature difference along with the soil conditions and ample sunshine ensures fast and optimum maturity of grapes imparting fruity aromas and freshness to the wine. Moreover, this region is known to have the best terrain in India to grow grapevines.
To ensure premium quality wines, the quality process is ensured right from the stage of selecting the rootstock. The rootstock is selected on the basis of the soil condition and soil testing report from a reputable French nursery. The soil ripping procedure is conducted before planting the roots and only organic manure is used as nutrient source for the wines.
The winery boasts of state art technology and equipments. The wine making process is a tedious task and needs to be done under controlled conditions. Optimum hygiene and clean processes are used in making the wine. This is what gives rise to the quality standards of our wines.
What did we do at Pause Vineyards?
Definitely have loads of fun for starters! Post our briefing enjoyed a sumptuous lunch and sampled some of the wines from our backward. They were delicious I must say!
To liven things up, the wineyard had set up a fun shamiana for all of us where we learnt about the process of making wine, sampled sweet grapes and got an opportunity to crush them, too.
It was at around 8 that all of us, tipsy on wine and happiness, made our way to our buses and bid farewell to this lovely day. It was definitely one of the most memorable experiences for me and I would like to extend my thanks to Pause Vineyards for inviting me over J
We remember the day seven years back when were travelling in a Mumbai local trying hard to come up withe a name for our blog when struck us; Khushboo was always called a Jack of all Trades. The name stuck (with a slight modification, of course) and Minni was born. Six years, over 100 collaboration, lakhs of readers and several awards later; our love for blogging continues to grow. We continue to write on an eclectic range of topics from the funniest autorickshaw signs that we have spotted in Mumbai to how to bathe an elephant. We are true blue Munni of all Trades and we hope to continue on this joyride with our fellow Munnies and Munnas. 