The ‘World’s Best Vineyards’ in partnership with Sonoma Wine Growers hosts the Top 50 awards every year, unveiling a list of the world’s top wine tourism destinations. Needless to say, the Top 50 Best Vineyard list is a highly coveted list, and marks out the most amazing vineyard experiences – the best places to taste terrific, and learn about winemaking and grape-growing. Many of these vineyards also offer superb views, outstanding restaurants and really great places to stay.
This year’s list has been a path-breaking list of sorts, and I was super excited and proud to see it. The 2020 Top 50 best vineyard list covers five continents and 18 countries, with 17 new names featuring in the list. Some are famous – names from the must-visit places in the world’s best loved wine regions; some on the other hand, will inspire you to explore a new region, such as, Japan, Bulgaria and INDIA!
The diversity of the 2020 Top 50 list is really incredible. It includes modern architectural wonders, UNESCO-protected ancient cellars, Michelin-starred restaurants and small, family-run wineries where the owners conduct the tours themselves! Some of these wineries also have some really unique offerings – horse-drawn vintage carrier tour through the vineyard, tapas amid a collection of beautifully restored classic cars, art from the likes of Pablo Picasso, and lessons in cooking on an open fire.
No vinery or estate from India has ever made it to this list, until this year.
This year though, our very own KRSMA Estate has made it to this very prestigious list. KRSMA Estate is a boutique Indian winery located at an hour’s distance from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi in Karnataka. They make single varietal, vintage wines that speak volumes of the unique terroir of the Hampi hills. Each varietal expression is uniquely crafted from the best grapes of each harvest, ensuring that no two vintages are the same, yet they all are the best produce of the winery. With boutique production numbers, wines produced at the KRSMA Estate are exclusively available in the cities of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and recently also in Goa. They produce three main wines – Cabarnet Sauvignon, which is their flagship red wine, Syrah, which is the newest addition to their portfolio, and Sauvignon Blanc, which is their main white wine. They also have two wines that are produced under their KRSMA 2 or KR label – the K2 Cabarnet Sauvignon and the K2 Chenin Blanc. The wines produced here have won numerous awards and accolades at prestigious events across the world, and the estate’s entry in the Top 50 list is the latest feather in their cap.
The name KRSMA is an amalgam of the founders’ names – KRishna Prasad and Uma. The owners are deeply involved in every step and process of the wine-making in the estate, including tasting the grapes in every plot every day during the ripening period, selection of the yeast based on trial ferments, etc. Though foreign expertise is duly employed where required, the unique terroir of the place is richly expressed in every wine that gets produced on the estate. The wines are aged in fine grain French oak barrels, the bottles for the wine are imported from France, the labels come from Australia, the capsules of the wine come from Spain, while the natural cork used for sealing the bottles comes from the United States. Despite the international presence, the wine is true to its heritage and growing region. The logo of KRSMA estates is truly unique and reflects the rich heritage of the Vijayanagar Empire, in whose erstwhile kingdom the winery is located.
With this achievement KRSMA Estate has definitely put Indian Wines and Vineyards on the world map. Kudos to the entire team of KRSMA Estate for all their hard work and efforts.
Cheers!
