Hi Puneet! My name is Muthu Palaniappan, from Chennai. I'm interested in setting up a Vineyard (along with a wine making unit) in Tamilnadu state. I gather that the Theni region in Tamilnadu (Cumbam Valley near Kodaikanal) is an excellent grape growing region. In this regard, I have a few questions about the feasibility of setting up a Vineyard in that region - 1. How would you rate the grapes that are being currently grown in this region. What is the best quality of Wine that one can make with this available raw material (currently grown grapes), how would you compare that with the Wine coming out of Nashik? 2. Is it possible to grow in this region, Grapes that compare with that grown around Nashik area in quality (if I were willing to invest in technology)? 3. What other regions in Tamilnadu / Kerala are suited to growing Quality Grapes? Thanx a lot for your help! Muthu.P

Interesting! Do you think Tamil Nadu government will give you the license to setup the winery? I heard that it is tough to get it.

 Dear Muthu,

Many thanks for your questions.

Regarding The Tamil Nadu Region for growing grapes. In essence you are facing exactly the same issues as Mahrahtra i.e that you are growing vines in a tropical climate and as such the Vines are unwilling to go into dormancy (shed their leaves). This means that you will need to adopt a double pruning methodology with a harsh pruning to discourage vegative growth and encouraage fruitful growth.

Very basically, and we can go into any of these points in more depth you will need

1. An area with soils that have good drainage and not too clay like and soil erosion is not too much of an issue. If drainage is excessive then irrigation will be required. 

2. Wind - An area with a good throughput of wind will help to keep various fungal diseases at bay

3. Cool Nights, warm days - You are looking for a large variance in di-urnal temperatures

4. You need to find a place with optimum GDD (Growing Degree Days) and low Humidity (Branas Index for example). These indexes will point the way towards which varieties you grow, or whether your site is not suitable for growth.

If you move towards the points above you will have an area suitable for grapes of the quality required for wine. Regarding your second question about locally grown grapes. These may be suitable - to asses you will need to examine their phenolic content and acid/sugar levels. If the grapes are grown for Table Grapes, be careful because the farmers will be adding heavy amounts of NPK to the soil to encourage fertile growth and increase Yield. These methodologies will not suffice for Wine Grapes - How ever the varieties may be suitable following your assessment of their phenolic content.

In terms of other areas around the region, my guess would be that you would be looking for highlands at least 1000m in altitude, but again this all depends on Mean Temperatures and rainfalls found in potential sites

Puneet 

Venki, U're quite right, I heard it's not easy to get License to operate a Winemaking unit in TN state. It would take a lot of effort, I guess! However, I was just trying to gather information about the quality of raw materials (ie. the grape) that is grown in this region - hence my query. If the grapes grown here are of good variety suitable for wine making, then it would be worth the trouble to pursue my interest. Thanks for ur help! Muthu. P

Dear Puneet, Thanks for your detailed response to my Query. I am planning to visit the site in question shortly. Your suggestions will definitely help me to assess the Soil and Climatic limitations in an objective manner. I have a few further questions on the same - a) I could not follow your suggestion on the kind of Soil Characteristics required for growing wine-quality grapes. Could you elaborate on that part some more? b) What do GDD and Branas Index denote? How would one measure / assess those parameters? c) You had suggested that I should probably check the locally grown grapes for their phenolic content and acid / sugar levels. Would it be possible to get these done in a regular laboratory or should I approach a specialized Institution preferably? In that case, would the local Agricultural university be a good place to try? d) Of all these parameters that you had specified (Soil type, rainfall & Irrigation patterns, Wind, GDD, Altitude etc.) what would be the most critical one? Could you rank order them, or are they all equally critical? Appreciate ur help Puneet! Thanks, Muthu. P

I think she has good point.

http://indianwine.com/cs/blogs/about_wine/archive/2007/03/31/viticulture-beyound-maharastra-state-jean-pierre-bouillac-danielle-chambaraud.aspx

Mr. J. P Bouillac says, in the south (TAMIL NADU) The soil can be adapted; it is the same for BANGALORE AREA in KARNATAKA.

 Dear Muthu,

Thanks for your mail

a) Regarding soils - In order to extraxt the maximum ratio of flavours from the soil it is preferable for the vine roots to probe deep into the soils. This allows for the roots to 'discover' more macro and micro-nutrients which add to flavour. In order for this to take place the soils it is again preferable to identify soils that drain well and do not hold too much moisture, as the roots will only probe as far as they need to until they have found water. However there are many other factors including Carbon Exchange content and Bio-diversity within the soils. Generally Top -soils can be split into three distinct types - Sandy/Loamy/Clay (although gravels and pebbles are also often found where there are vines due to their natural drainage). About the only soils a vine will have real difficulty are very clay soils where water retention is high

b) GDD is 'Growing Degree Days' and is an index which denotes the feasibility of ripening various varieties in the temperature and light conditions avalable. Branas is a measure of Humidity in the region and really denotes the amount of diesease pressure the vine will face. There are several other indexes also, and a familiarity with these will be required

c) For Testing a regular lab will be fine - some specialised equipment will be required but nothing too elaborate - this ket can be sourced from a number of places - Amit Keval may be able to help you on this - he is an importer of wine equipment to India.

 Regarding Critical parameters - My advice is to consult with an expert in what you are doing - If you move forward on your own - it will be less liely that you will make good wine. if the wine is bad no one will want it - it won't sell. There are many viticultaralists consulting in India and I'll be glad to put you onto some of them

Puneet, I am planning on visiting the Site this weekend. I made arrangements with the local agriculture university, they have promised to help me analyze the quality of grapes available there. Once I'm through with this part, I will have to work out the License part. Once these two things are out of the way, I will definitely want to consult a good viticulturalist. If you could direct me to a good viticulturalist it would be of immense help. Per our exchange of information, I recall that I will have to watch out for the following carefully (at the site): 1. Quality of Grapes currently grown - analyze for acid and phenolic content, 2. Altitude of the land - 1000m above sea level is ideal, 3. Nature of Soil - Soil with good draining is ideal, Clay soil is no-no, 4. Presence of Di-urnal weather conditions, 5. Analyze GDD and Humidity content I hope I have covered all the basic requisites for summing-up the terroir, no? Once again, thanks a lot Puneet! Muthu.P

Hi Muthu,

The Basics I have covered are at a very Basic Level. I stress again the need for you to work closely with an expert in Grapegrowing, as the vine requirements for winemaking are very unique. Also Tamil Nadu is at a sub tropical region and these factors also need to be taken into consideration. Please tread carefully through this analysis phase and leave no stone unturned. The Indian Wine Market may be growing but no one will buy bad wine. Infact  if a person new to wine tastes a bad glass of wine on their first encounter, they could be put off wine altogether. 

Muthu-

This was an interesting link. I am visiting Theni the weekend of Oct 11th for exactly the same reason as yourself. Did you make further progress in your effort? It will be great if we can have a chat over the phone- I can be reached at 98403-91985 (Besant Nagar, Chennai)

 Thx,

Mani