State's second largest wine market showcases collection from 12 wineries

MANGALURU: Bacchus lovers thronged Kadri Park to taste the rare and special wine showcased by over 12 wineries of Karnataka and Maharashtra, at the three-day 'Mangaluru Wine Fest - 2016', that got underway on Saturday.
Mangaluru, which is the second largest wine market in the state after Bengaluru, witnessed an overwhelming response with wine lovers visiting winery stalls and buying red and white grape wine of their choice.Stalls not only showcased wine brands with price ranging between Rs 90 to Rs 2,100, but also offered connoisseurs wine to taste. Meanwhile, children made the most of opportunity by participating actively in the grape-stomping that was specially arranged by the organizers - department of horticulture and Karnataka Wine Board.
Divya Kiran D'Souza, a Mangalorean and founder of Valle De Indies, said he has brought nine brands of red wines manufactured at its Vijayapura Winery. "It is a very good opportunity for us to interact with customers directly. We can seek their suggestions to improve the quality of our products. We have displayed our silver collection, eco collection and port collection. The response is very positive that people in large number have been visiting stalls here," he added.
Meanwhile, Fratelli wines displayed 21 of their popular brands that are produced in their winery at Vijayapura. Fratelli Wines sales in-charge Ashok Govekar said, "People of Mangaluru are very much aware of benefits of wine consumption. They have very good knowledge about wine. Our fastest selling brands like Merlot and Sangiovese, which are produced using the grapes grown in our company's own yard, have takers here too," he added.
Grover Zampa Vineyards, who have a winery in Doddaballapur, displayed reserve collection, art collection and entry level brands to attract visitors.
Inaugurating the festival, minister for forest, environment and ecology and DK district in-charge B Ramanath Rai said, "I do not drink alcohol and wine, but I have learnt that drinking wine is good for health. With very less alcohol content in it, wine helps in keeping one healthy like 'Neera', a non-alcoholic drink produced from coconut."
MLC Ivan D'Souza, wine board chairman Ravindra Shankara Mirje, board managing director T Somu and deputy director of horticulture department H R Yogish were present.