A weekend plan at a vineyard was always in the cards for my friends. We had an opportunity to tick this off our bucket list during my friend’s bachelorette. I scheduled a booking at Grover Zampa Vineyard which is about 90 minutes from the city at Doddaballapur Road, Bangalore.
We took the Reserve tour which comes with 6 wine tastings and a tour of the premises & wine-making process which takes approximately 60-90 minutes. Just call the winery number listed on their website and you can make a booking without any fee.
What’s special about this “Reserve” tour?
Basically, the wines tasted during this tour are reserve wines. They are aged for more than 6 months to 2 years. Which gives them the name “reserve”. It wasn’t like we were wine connoisseurs and trying to taste the best wines. This was just a coincidence because we booked the slot for 2 pm and that was the only tour available.
What does the Grover Zampa Vineyard Tour consist of?
Please note that this “vineyard tour” does not include a vineyard per se. Just a processing and storage unit. This is a warehouse tour if I may put it bluntly. You would have better luck booking the Big Banyan tour if you’re merely looking for a vineyard picture.
To start off, the guide takes you to the unit where the wine crushing happens. The machine and its process is explained and then you proceed to the fermentation and preservation processes. Whether it’s in the barrels or bottles, the guide answers all the questions related to wines, the making, process and machine information for all the enthusiasts. After this, a grape stomping session is done for those who opt (You will have to pay extra for this). In reality, that was less than 5 minutes.
The wine tasting was really the highlight of the tour for me. Where they not only let us taste but also explain why many people swirl, sniff & sip the wine. I enjoyed this part as it gave me something new to learn about. The tasting included a glass of sparkling wine, two whites, one rose, and two red wines.
The guide was very helpful in explaining how to pair wines with your food. They also have a board with cheese and crackers to cleanse your palate and assist in tasting and smelling the right notes.
Review of Grover Zampa Vineyards
Overall for the price of 1300 + taxes, we were almost happy with the experience at the vineyard. The only things marring this great afternoon was the lunch. We opted to eat at the winery which has a restaurant. The service was slow and they even missed our pizza. Make sure you take water as there is no proper shade and you can get dehydrated easily.
If you’ve not opted for grape stomping, then you are made to sit and wait till everyone is done with it before the wine tasting happens. Which was kind of unfair and time-consuming for us. I personally did not like the premise as it had accumulated a lot of dust.
The wine tasting was marvelous with the guide helping us really savor the taste. Explaining in detail what makes the wine good and how to pair them with your meals. For a beginner, this information is really helpful. I really enjoyed the white and sparkling wines. Red was a bit overpowering palate.
All that said and done, it is great for a one-time visit when you’re bored with your city life. But compared to the other vineyards, this left a lot to be wanting.