Narmada Winery set to open this fall
Local
By Hilary Lewis, Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Source: Rappahannock News
FRIDAY, JULY 24 2009
For most,
retirement means more time for golf, grandchildren, and relaxation.
But for Sudha and Pandit Patil, retirement took on an entirely
different significance.
“Our dream
was to have a vineyard. We love wine and thought it sounded like a
nice part-time thing to do,” said Sudha. “We wanted to do something
outdoors, to keep busy. Even if we were retired, we didn't want to
just sit back and do nothing,”
Owners of
Narmada Vineyard in Amissville, the couple is planning to open a
winery this fall, shifting the sole production of grapes to
wine-making. They are now in the process of constructing a 7,800
square-foot winery, which they hope to open in the fall. The winery
will feature Indian décor and delicacies, adding its own trademark
to the Rappahannock wine scene.
The
couple, originally from McLean, moved to Rappahannock County and
purchased the property in 1999. Pandit has a Ph.D. in electrical
engineering and formerly worked for the U.S. Department of Energy,
while Sudha has a practice in Culpeper as an endodontist.
On a trip
to Little Washington to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary,
the couple saw a “For Sale” sign for the 55-acre property in
Amissville.
“This was
our retirement dream,” said Sudha. “We never wanted to move out of
Virginia and this is wine country. We knew we wanted to stay here
for our retirement.”
Growing grapes
The
Narmada vineyard started with two acres of Vidal white grapes in
2004 and has since expanded to 14 acres across the property. Today,
Narmada's grape varieties include Traminette, Chambourcin, Vidal
Blanc and Chardonnel. This spring, they added Merlot, Chardonnay,
Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes to the vineyard.
Originally, the Patils planned for Narmada to be all organic, but
grape production nearly came to a halt when Japanese beetles
infested their young grape vines.
“We tried
every remedy in the book. We tried garlic, Tabasco sauce, nothing
worked,” said Pandit.
So the
Patils decided to start over, this time as “sustainable organic”
using as little insecticides as possible. They still hope to someday
be certified as organic, but have put off that dream for now.
“We are
working to be certified organic, but you need five years of organic
records,” said Pandit.
Making wine
Until
recently, Narmada Vineyard simply sold the grapes it produced to
local wineries. Now it hopes to expand into on-site winemaking,
adding a bit of flavor to Virginia's wine country.
“We've
never had any surplus grapes, we've always sold all of them. This
will be the first year that we make the wine here,” said Pandit. “We
thought, everybody else makes their own wine out of their grapes,
why can't we?”
Last year,
Sudha tested her winemaking skills, having a hand in creating four
Narmada wines locally at Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane. With help
from Tom Payette, a local wine-making consultant, Sudha developed
Primita, Reflection, Midnight, and Mom, a tribute to her
mother-in-law, for whom the winery is named.
The Patils
chose this name because Narmada, Pandit's mother, pawned all of her
jewelry to buy her son a ticket to the U.S. from India. Pandit had a
scholarship to attend New Mexico State University.
“Without
that, we couldn't be where we are today,” said Sudha. “Nobody knows
what mothers do really for their kids.”
Narmada
not only honors a vital member of the Patil family, but is also a
tribute to one of the most sacred rivers in India. According to
legend, all who bathe in the Narmada River will be freed of all sins
and able to achieve salvation.
The winery
The
construction of the winery, which began in May, has taken longer
than the Patils hoped, with the struggling economy stifling their
chances at financing the project.
“It never
took us longer than 60 days to get a loan. This time, it took us
nine months,” said Pandit.
Today
construction on the winery is coming along well, after spring rains
caused a few delays. Inside the 7,800 square-foot winery, the cellar
features a barrel room, a wine library, storage area, as well as
plenty of space to house tanks and bins for the wine's fermentation.
“This is
where the quality starts,” said Pandit during a tour with a
reporter. “This is the most important part.”
Above the
cellar, a tasting deck will give visitors a bird's eye view of the
winemaking process. Connected to the winery's second floor, a
staircase leads down to the cellar for tours.
Designed
by architect Dick Manuel, the winery's tasting room features a
fireplace, tasting bar, a stage to host musicians, and a gift shop
which will feature local artwork and Indian-inspired gifts.
For more
information on the winery and its November opening, visit
www.narmadawinery.com.
Source:
http://www.rappnews.com/news/2009/jul/24/narmada-winery-set-open-fall/
Narmada Vineyard starts from scratch
By Monty Tayloe and Anita Sherman
Source: Times Community Newspapers
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 2005
UPDATED MONDAY, JUNE 4 2007
“We are doing this on our own,” said Pandit Patil, formerly a
highly placed official in the Department of Energy and now a private
consultant when he isn't pruning vines. His wife Sudha has a
similarly grape-less background as an endodontist, with a practice
in McLean, and they employ as farm manager Peter Richter, formerly
of United Airlines. While they don't have a great deal of
experience, the Pandits are learning quickly and hope to one day
make their contribution to Rappahannock's wine community.
“Narmada is a very famous river in India, a sacred river,” explained
Dr. Sudha Patil. The Patils are originally from India, and Pandit's
mother, whose name was Narmada, helped the couple come to this
country.
“We were very grateful to her and thought it fitting to name this
place after her,” said Sudha Patil.
Narmada Vineyard's gates open onto US-211, and when locals driving
by noticed the construction going on at the site and the signs for
Graystone, a prominent local construction firm, many assumed that a
new housing development was being built behind the gates. In fact it
was the Patil's house and outbuildings being constructed, and the
fields made ready for grapevines.
“This was once all hay fields,” remarked Pandit Patil as he looked
out over their now neat rows of vines. “We had to clear it all
before we could do anything.”
The Patils currently have dedicated 10, out of their 51 acres,
exclusively for their grapevines.
They have a variety of grapes, including Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin,
Chardonelle, and Trammonette. And they hope to one day have even
more varieties.”
“Maybe in 2007 we'll plant a hill with Merlot. I'm a Merlot person,”
smiled Sudha. However, the Patils have only been growing vines on
the land for two years, and vines are all they currently have. It
takes several years for a new vineyard to actually produce grapes
that can be made into wine.
While Sudha prefers the reds, Pandit is quick to point out that he
is a Pinot Grigio guy and also is looking forward to trying
something really new.
“Cherry wine,” grinned Pandit Patil. “I'd like to make some cherry
wine someday.”
For that to happen, in addition to the grape vines, Patil has
planted over 100 cherry trees that line the long drive to their home
at the rear of the property.
While they are certainly taller than the grapevines, it's going to
take them awhile before they are producing any fruit either.
Narmada Vineyards is still very much in its infancy and it will take
several seasons before their 12,000 vines will yield grapes. But
patience is something the Patils have plenty of and they religiously
tend to their vines on a daily basis either personally or with the
few workers that they have been able to find.
Walking out into their fields, Pandit stops to clear a few weeds,
flick off a Japanese Beetle, and explain about cutting off some
dangling branches.
Right now, the Patils must train the vines to grow along guide wires
to maximize grape production and create the long neat orderly rows
found at other Rappahannock County vineyards.
“It's fun, but it's a lot of responsibility,” said Pandit. “You have
to be there every single day.”
Expert advice
Since they are from outside the wine industry, the Patils have
occasionally had to ask for advice about growing and pest control
from some local sources, including Virginia Tech and some local wine
growers.
“We've been doing a lot of reading,” admitted Pandit.
“We've also gotten a lot of help from Kenner Love at the
Rappahannock County Extension Office and from Grey Ghost Winery in
Amissville and Rappahannock Cellars in Huntly,” added Sudha Patil.
Despite their non-wine growing backgrounds, the Patils share a love
of drinking fine wines and had been interested in growing grapes for
some time before purchasing the land for Narmada in 1999. “We were
always thinking about this, for ten or fifteen years,” recalled
Pandit. “We loved wines.”
The Patils, who are in their fifties, noticed that the property was
for sale while on a trip to the Inn at Little Washington, and
eventually bought it to be the site of their retirement home and
vineyard. “The soil here is terrific,” explained Sudha. “We felt
this was the place to have our vineyard.”
Battling the beetles
Not everything has gone as the Patils planned for Narmada. They had
originally wanted their vineyard to be all organic, meaning that no
artificial insecticides would be used in their viticulture. However,
the Japanese beetles of Rappahannock County made this plan
impossible.
“When we told everybody that we were going to go organic, they
laughed at us,” said Sudha Patil who vivdly recalled the swarms of
pesty beetles that found a feast among their young, vulnerable
vines. The Patils tried several organic solutions to the beetle
problem, including a garlic spray. “It smelled so bad,” grimaced
Sudha. But in the end had to relent in favor of what they call
“sustainable organic” which means that they minimize the amount of
insecticide used on the plants.
“You can be organic, but you'll be organic without vines” explained
Richter as he scooted between rows in the hot sun of the afternoon.
For the future of Narmada, the Patils plan to take things slow. They
want to get better at growing grapes before they start worrying
about actually making wine.”We're going to keep trying and
learning,” said Sudha.
The Patils are very gracious and seem to have a calm approach to
their dream of producing that first bottle of Narmada wine.
Next to their manmade lake, a gazebo has already been erected
complete with a lovely sitting area.
“That's our wine tasting place,” smiled Pandit Patil as he headed
back to the vines for more pruning.
Source:
http://www.culpepertimes.com/news/2005/sep/15/narmada-vineyard-starts-from-scratch/
