Mysuru: With over one lakh visitors in five years to the Heritage winery located off Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway, it has become the most happening place well-known for its wine tours. In the last five years not only the demand for grapes increased, but also the economic conditions of farmers who are growing grapes have improved.

                             People seen having a taste of wine at Heritage Grape Winery in Channapattana

In five years, it has become the first winery in the state and the country to achieve this feat. The heritage wine tour was started as an initiative to educate people on the intricacies of making and tasting of fine wine. Wine culture has been popularised in Bengaluru and its rural districts. It is now time to introduce wine culture to Mysuru, the cultural capital of Karnataka.

To introduce wine culture among the citizens of Mysuru, Heritage Wineries has decided to give up to 50 per cent discount on wine tours to enable Mysureans to experience wine culture and taste different varieties of wines, said P L Venkatarama Reddy, Founder Chairman of Heritage Grape Wineries Pvt Ltd. Launched in 2011, Heritage wine tours have been successful in drawing the attention of wine lovers in India and abroad. Supported by Karnataka Wine Board, the wine tours have gained immense popularity.

The Heritage winery has also become a place for learning wine culture for the students of hotel management besides students of biotechnology, biochemistry and microbiology. Tourists who visit Mysuru now, make the wine tour of Heritage wines as a part of their tour itinerary. The concessional offer to Mysureans, including students, to the wine tour is valid from August 27 to September 30. All they have to do is show their identity card to confirm their status as residents of Mysuru, Reddy said.

The winery uses the exclusive Bengaluru Blues variety of grapes procured from farmers in Bengaluru and its rural areas like Chikkaballapur, Doddaballapur, Devanahalli, Hoskote and Kolar district.

As a result of its research and experiments, Heritage Wines has come out with a variety of wines. The Winery has also encouraged the cultivation of French grapes among farmers to make table wine. Among these the Heritage Sparkling wine has come to the notice of wine connoisseurs. Although wine is a healthy substitute to the hazardous hard liquor, wine should be drunk in moderation or else it could turn out to be harmful, advised Reddy.

The Heritage wine tour comprises experiencing grape crushing, wine fermentation process, factory visit and a visit to a grape farm. To cap it, the visitor gets to taste six varieties of wines.

T Somu, Managing Director, Karnataka Wine Board, said that to promote wine tours, the Wine Board has decided to organise a wine festival soon.

During the two hour Wine tour, one can come to know detail history of wine, how it is made and the process. Apart from all this one can taste five varieties of wine. For Mysoreans, there is 50 percent discount on tour charges. Instead of Rs 250, if they show any of their identity cards, they will get 50 percent discount.

Place: Heritage Grape Winery, Gangedoddi Village, Chekkere post, Channapattana Taluk, Ramanagar district. It is nearly 80km from Mysuru.