A quick 2 day getaway to Sula wines and Beyond Resort, just, well, beyond Sula Wines.
Celebrating our 3rd anniversary in the midst of sickness and work overload called for a two day getaway. We drove from Aurangabad to Nasik with good roads that were clear of traffic and were well maintained apart from the annoying diversions due to road work being carried out in some parts. Once done, travelling is going to be a breeze. Along the way, before you hit Nasik, you can spot vineyards - some small, some large, some with really scary scarecrows!
We left at 10 am and stopped in Nasik for lunch at 'Bon Vivant', College Road which was pretty much on our way to Sula. We ate at 'Eastern Spice', their non vegetarian restaurant. They also have a vegetarian restaurant and a 'Bake studio' in the same campus. After reading the reviews, we ordered beer, chicken biryani (Mughlai) and mutton kheema which were all outstanding. The biryani was fabulous with subtle spice flavors of cardamom, cloves and masala. The mutton kheema was delicious and not very spicy. We picked up a strawberry tart and blueberry cheesecake slice at the Bake Studio (Rs. 140 only) and had them later. They were amazing. We reached Beyond Resort, a mere 20 minutes from Nasik and 4 kms from Sula and very easy to follow directions on Google Maps. My honest opinion is that if you have explored everything else around Pune and are falling short of 2 day visit places, come here. If not, there are many options out there that are much better than Beyond resort. For instance, you could try Malhar Machi, or The Machan.
We reached at 3 pm after confirming over the phone the previous day that we would be reaching around 2.30 pm. Our room was not ready and the keys were nowhere to be found. This resulted in a wait of 15 minutes during which we were offered the complimentary welcome drink - white wine - which was good. Finally the missing key turned up and we were allotted a room facing the pool and the vineyards, a beautiful room but unfortunately the main key slot was malfunctioning, so we called up the reception, got our room changed, which was on same floor and same side and hence the same view. However, all of this took another half an hour and we finally settled into our new room. I went for my pre-booked spa appointment at 6 pm at Touche, the Spa. Unfortunately, I would recommend that you give it a miss as the masseuse was not experienced. A therapy which was to be for 75 minutes was finished in 50 minutes. A bonus 15 minute foot massage was given to me, all because I asked them about the timing of the treatment. Imagine the poor souls who do not realize /question the shortcut. The massage was uncomfortable and anything but enjoyable. At 8.00 pm we went down for dinner to Cafe Rose, the only restaurant in the hotel. Not being very hungry after the heavy lunch, we settled for a glass of Shiraz for Sagar and Cabernet Sauvignon for me. We ordered chicken pahadi kebabs which we were cooked beautifully and Chicken Caesar salad, which was ok as I have had better.
The next day, we went down for a buffet breakfast at the same restaurant, which was sumptuous and varied. There were eggs, juices, bread, cereals, sauteed mushrooms and Indian fare too. We left for the complimentary wine tour at 12.00 pm. This was definitely the highlight of our trip. Indrajeet, our guide, was informative and funny. He took us through the entire process (we did not get a chance to crush the grapes) and for the wine tasting. You are given 6 different wines to taste and nuances of each were explained in great detail. Indrajeet definitely was passionate about his job and the wines.
From what I remember, this is what he told us:
1. In the crushing phase, for the white wines, the skin and stem is removed from the grapes and the grapes are crushed, on the other hand, red wines get their color because of the skin of the grapes so only the stems are removed for red wines and skins kept intact. Rose wines are a mix of white and a little bit of red to given them a pinkish tinge.
2. The poor crushed grapes are transported to a fermentation tank - Sula has over 120 tanks for red and white wines! Cultured yeasts are added in this process. Red wines takes longer than white wines to ferment. (I do not remember the time periods, though Indrajeet did mention them)
3. After fermentation, the wines are transferred to bottles or to oak barrels to mature. The oak barrels are imported from USA and are pretty expensive - 75,00 INR and above and cannot be used more than a few times - wine making is expensive! Actually, good wine making is expensive as you can use any wooden barrel in theory.
4. For Champagnes / Brut carbon dioxide is introduced to give it the fizz
5. For wine tasting, look at the wine carefully. Tilt your glass and check the color. The older the red wine, the lighter the shade of red it will have. White wines are exactly the opposite. Next, swirl the wine as this will release its aromas (do not ever swirl champagnes because that will release the CO2 and you will just look dumb)
After swirling, if you check the layers on the glass. The rate at which the remaining wine on the glass comes down can help determine the alcohol level in the wine. Slower the speed, more the alcohol.
After swirling, comes the smelling. Smell the aromas released and then Cheers! Have a sip of the wine, let it be in your throat and take a gulp of air like the annoying habit some people have of loudly sipping their tea, well that is what you do here. And that gives you the real taste of the wine.
Have the crackers in between tastings or everything will start tasting the same to you!
We had 6 wine tastings - 2 white, 3 reds and 1 Brut.
My favorite, surprisingly (I love red wines) was a white wine called Riesling. It is called the beginners wine due to its low alcohol content and sweet taste.
Fun Fact - the vineyards are surrounded by roses and sunflowers and some other flowers, so that if there is a breakout of any infection it attacks the flowers first since they are delicate and farmers can quickly isolate that area and protect the vineyard.
There is only one restaurant on the premise which serves snacks / cheeses to go with the wines that you order. Do not expect a lunch menu here. The French restaurant Soliel by La Plage does not open in the afternoons and Little Italy as advertised on Google does not exist at the premise. We ordered chicken lollipop at the snack bar and I stuck to Riesling and Sagar tried the Dindori reserve Brut, which of course, was excellent. We did not buy wines from there as the prices were the same, in fact slightly higher than the stores in Pune. So that was a dud! After a delightful afternoon spent there, we returned to the resort. After lounging around the pool and playing table tennis, darts and foosball in the common area we opted for the buffet dinner, with some wine (obviously) and returned to our room for our last night at this place.
My verdict:
It cost us about Rs. 25,000 inclusive of everything - food, fuel, stay and wine. Given the price, do not expect value for money from the resort. It is beautiful but basic. The service could definitely be improved. A better plan would have been to stay in Nasik for one night and travel to Sula for a day if you were really hard pressed for time, but since our aim of the trip was to absolutely do nothing and behave like bums, this was an excellent two day getaway for us.
Cheers!