KRSMA Estates

THE FACTS

Location: Julakunta village, Hampi Hills 
State: Karnataka
Founded: 2010
Major shareholders: Krishna Prasad & Uma Chigurupati
Total area: 180 acres
Area under vine: 65 acres
Production: 25,000
Google map: click here

THE STORY

Some are born to be restless, always on the look out for new challenges. The story of KRSMA Estates’ founders Krishna Prasad and Uma Chigurupati epitomises this quality. Having set up Granules India, a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company now employing over 1,500 people, the Chigurupatis got into running. As every dedicated runner knows, the greater the distance, the greater the exhilaration, and greater the joy of achievement. They completed seven marathons within a year, one on each continent, and Guinness acknowledges theirs as the fastest marathons run by a married couple at both the North and the South Poles. As a runner myself, I am filled with respect.

 

When they heard of a small investor and farmers in trouble over grape growing in the Hampi outback, the Chigurupatis decided to see the land for themselves. They had already developed an appreciation for fine wine in the course of their travels and began to toy with the idea of setting up their own wine estate, a thread picked up from 40 years before, when Krishna recalls trying, as a teenager, to ferment grape juice in demijohns in the hope of replicating the bishop’s Sunday wine – a far cry from his present the output of his current winemaking.

 

Despite the backbreaking six-hour car ride from Hyderabad, they were at once mesmerised by the beauty of the Hampi Hills’ rugged natural terrain. Focused on the new challenge, and sparing neither energy or money, they created a world-class vineyard and built a state-of-the-art winery near the village of Julakunta, a hundred kilometres from Hospet.

 

With a bold and ambitious plan to craft luxury wines of truly Indian character, and a humble but unapologetic determination, the Chigurupatis have quietly become purveyors of fine Cabernet Sauvignons. I remember tasting their 2011 vintage, brought by a friend from New Delhi, in London in October 2013. I thought then that it was the first seriously good Indian Cabernet and that it was now time to watch out for boutique producers such as KRSMA.

 

The couple continues to challenge the Indian wine scene with unorthodox ideas, including pricing super-premium wines at levels nobody has dared to before, and releasing a vintage as a ‘second label’ when they do not believe it hits the quality level that would qualify it for ‘grand vin’ status.


THE ESTATE

Located in the Hampi Hills in mid-state Karnataka, KRSMA Estates is truly in the outback. By establishing it here – 420 kilometres from Bangalore and 350 kilometres from Hyderabad, each requiring a minimum of a seven hours’ drive – the Chigurupatis have opened up new wine country in India. It is in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, the UNESCO world heritage site of Hampi is just 70 kilometres away, and the winery and vineyards spread out on slopes amidst a stunning landscape. The magical sunset hour presents an undisturbed horizon beneath a brilliantly painted sky.

 

The altitude is 590 metres and the terroir is a mix of predominantly iron-rich schist and patches of white limestone. The loamy layer is red but of lesser intensity, but it too gives way to brown soils.

 

KRSMA Estates works with four major varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. Some smaller experimental plantations provide enjoyable work for Uma but Krishna does not wish to be sidetracked, focusing instead on his principal passion: Cabernet, which makes up 60 per cent of the vineyard.

 

When discussing Chardonnay’s inability to crop elsewhere India, the Chigurupatis admitted that they work with just a ton of yield for every three acres, minuscule by any measure. They also commented that Chardonnay struggles to grow its canopy but, simultaneously, limestone-rich areas of the vineyard benefit both Chardonnay and Sauvignon.

 

Initially a winemaker from New Zealand was the Chigurupatis’ visiting viticulturist, but now Peter Hayes, an Australian consultant, assists the winery in this capacity. Yet its founders are hands-on and deeply involved. Uma commutes between Hampi and Hyderabad to be able to observe the vines, check on deficit irrigation, discuss soil nutrition, direct the canopy management programme and taste the berries before harvest. As a result of this meticulous attention to detail, pre-growing-season pruning is now in early August for the whites and late August for the reds, bringing the harvest dates forward to late December for Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, mid-January for Sangiovese, and between mid and late January for Cabernet.

 

The winery sits atop a hill, the highest point in the vineyard. If it were not for its rectangular shape, its massive, wide walls, constructed from local stone, would be perfect camouflage. Two metres thick, they help in reducing the use of artificial energy sources, but air conditioning remains essential.

 

All the grapes are handpicked. Other than that there is no recipe for winemaking or the elevation of the wines. The whites are mostly whole-bunch pressed, though I understand there were some experiments with de-stemming but without subsequent crushing. Cold-settling helps to clarify the juice while fermentation at 12–14º C helps to protect the aromas. The issues of malolactic fermentation and use of barrels vary across vintages.

 

Regarding the reds, KRSMA is one of the few places in India associated with open-tank fermentation, for which it has purpose-designed tanks, rare because they can be a microbiological hazard with the temperatures rising every day in the harvest season. KRSMA also does pre-fermentation maceration, another extremely uncommon practice in India, for up to three days. Once fermentation and the subsequent maceration with regular punch-downs are done, temperatures are allowed to reach a maximum of 25–28º C. The reds go into barrel for malolactic and then back into tanks once it is completed. The wines made from different parcels are kept separate throughout and up until blending.

 

40 per cent of the barrels are replaced every year. KRSMA works with French oak from coopers such as Vicard and Quintessence. The arrival of a 500-litre cask was expected in time for the 2015 vintage and the winery’s experiments with barrel fermentation for red wines.


THE WINES

The winery’s philosophy is aptly translated into good and premium quality wines. The unoaked Sauvignon Blanc represents KRSMA’s take on early-drinking white wines with ripe exotic fruits, zesty freshness and a touch of minerals. The Chardonnay has undergone some metamorphosis: the first vintage I tasted was unoaked with 40 per cent of it through malolactic fermentation, accentuating the ripe character; of the other vintage, one-third was in barrel and none went through malolactic fermentation, resulting in a touch creamy, but perkily fresh expression. This latter style is classy with finesse.

 

The Sangiovese is reminiscent of very good quality Chianti in showing brilliant plush cherry fruit with considerable (12 months) of oak ageing, while retaining the lighter style of the variety.

 

The Cabernets are made to be serious and big wines with elegant ripeness at the core, firm tannic structure and complex spiciness, predominantly from French oak. Barrel ageing is typically for 12 months before blending and bottling. 


THE LABELS

KRSMA Estates Sauvignon Blanc

KRSMA Estates Chardonnay

KRSMA Estates Cabernet Sauvignon

KRSMA Estates Sangiovese

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