/ Enhance Your Indian Cuisine With A Trip To Virginia's Narmada Winery

by Shilpa Sehgal-Rajput

Enhance Your Indian Cuisine With A Trip To Virginia’s Narmada Winery

Sep 15, 2017

Ever wondered what kind of wine paired well with butter chicken? Narmada Winery owners Sudha and Pandit Patil can tell you without even blinking.

Sitting on 51 acres of beautiful rolling countryside in Virginia, Narmada Winery offers the best in quality wine and Indian dining. With Virginia being home to an astounding 267 wineries, Narmada Winery in Rappahannock County has racked up an impressive number of awards (65 gold medals and counting) and was recently named one of the top 12 wines in the state at the Virginia Governor’s Cup Competition in 2015.

What makes Narmada Winery so unique is their ability to coax latent flavours from their grapes, producing carefully selected wine blends that boast homage to India’s complex spices. Oh, did I forget to mention the delicious Indian food?

Trip To Virginia's Narmada Winery — **Trip To Virginia’s Narmada Winery: Narmada Winery’s breathtaking views and award-winning wines.** Photo Credit: www.narmadawinery.com

Opening its doors back in 2009, owners Sudha and Pandit Patil have been living their ultimate dream. Originally from Mumbai, India, Sudha and Pandit have been Virginia residents for over 40 years. Their interest in wine was kindled after they moved to the United States in order to further their education. As they traveled the globe, their passion for the art of winery blossomed even stronger, eventually leading to the purchase of land which Narmada sits upon in 2004, just after their 30^th wedding anniversary. Paying tribute to Pandit’s mother, the couple named their accomplishment after her, Narmada.

“Pandit’s mother had to sacrifice so much and sold her jewelry for Pandit to come to this country. Without her, we wouldn’t have all we have today,” says Sudha, who came to the United States in 1968 and is now Narmada’s winemaker extraordinaire. Taking it one step further, the winery introduced their signature wine adequately named Mom, a dry wine with notes of pineapple and passion fruit.

“It’s dedicated to all moms, for selflessly sacrificing to provide for their children,” says Sudha.

I was fortunate enough to visit Narmada Winery and had the most amazing experience while there. Driving up to the land, you are immediately met with acres of breathtaking views; the picturesque vineyard filled with plump grapes not far from your sight. Sitting atop a hill is Narmada’s boutique, a small, yet cozy setting with the aroma of Indian spices filling the air.

Their pride in Indian heritage is seen right as you walk in; the surroundings are decorated in bright colours with peacocks and elephants all elegantly placed about the boutique. I’m met with friendly staff, all knowledgeable in each and every wine they carry, as well as which wines go well with what cuisine.

“A lot of people don’t realize that Indian food pairs nicely with wines,” said Sudha. Sudha recommends samosas, chicken tikka masala or bhindi with the winery’s white, red and dessert wines. “There’s a generality that you have to have sweeter wines with Indian fare, but that’s not the case. Many of our visitors are quite daring and are combining a wine like the Cabernet Franc with butter chicken.”

The winery offers almost 20 different wines, some with names playing off of Indian heritage like Gulabi, Yash-Vir, Lotus and Primita. Sudha’s primary focus at Narmada Winery is to create graceful, elegant and food-enhancing wines. Together with her husband Pandit, they supervise the vineyard and research new sustainable farming practices, develop extraordinary packaging for each wine, and discover ways to incorporate the exciting tastes of Narmada’s fine wines with both traditional and exotic culinary choices.

From their hard work, Narmada Winery has been winning awards every year and their wines are proudly served at U.S Department of State luncheons, including a luncheon hosted by then Vice President Joe Biden and then Secretary of State John Kerry in honour of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

The winery offers fun wine tasting flights that range from $10 to $12 CDN to discover the flavours you like best. Each wine’s nuances are explained thoroughly, as well as which food platters pair best with each wine. Wine can be shared in the Tasting Room, on the deck, or on the patio.

All three options have a great atmosphere and scenic views of the massive vineyard. Bottles are available for purchase to take home and if you’re a wine enthusiast, they’ve created the Maharaja Wine Club where you’ll enjoy special perks and privileges available only through Narmada.

“People tell us we are living their dream,” says Sudha, “It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it.”

In the future, Sudha hopes to make Narmada and Virginia wines more popular and assure people that California is not the only state with high quality wine saying, “We give California wines a run for their money!”

Learn more about Narmada Winery’s special packages and tours here.

Main Photo Image Credit: www.narmadawinery.com

Shilpa Sehgal-Rajput

Author

Shilpa Sehgal-Rajput is a freelance writer based in Chicago. Reminiscing about her passion for writing during her college days, she has made her way back from the corporate world, armed with a lace pen. When she’s not working on humorous short stories and epic novels, she’s living out her se...