People first baulk at Sula wines� prices. But after they have the first sip, they ask, �Sure this is Indian?� And that�s how the word has spread about the Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc.

IF like most people in Bombay and Goa, you like drinking Sula Vineyard's Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc, then you have an unknown girl from the Modesto wine-growing region of California to thank. Eight, ten years ago, she introduced India's future vintner, Rajeev Samant, to Napa Valley.

He was a Stanford University engineer for Oracle Corporation in San Francisco, and a hardcore drinker of cheap beer. But under the Modesto girlfriend's influence, Rajeev developed an appreciation for wines. And as he explored Napa further, and Sonoma, he got hooked onto the lifestyles of the vintners.

The idea of making a living by being your own boss, by working out of the city in an area surrounded by beauty, stuck in his head. Restless, he chucked up the Oracle job and returned to India. His father, a first generation entrepreneur, offered him a piece of land in Nashik. "I took a look. It was grassland gently sloping down to the earthern Gangapur dam with hills on all sides. I thought, what a great place to grow mangoes. But discovered it was a greater place to grow grapes," says Rajeev.

He returned to California, roped in Sonoma master wine-maker Kerry Damskey, and in 1999, with his first harvest of grapes, produced outstanding Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc white wines. The Sauvignon Blanc, India's first, turned out to be lightly floral, dry, and with a hint of melons and mint. "It is crisp and refreshing," describes Rajeev, "and has a touch of spice at the finish." And the Chenin Blanc, "Semi-dry, light, fresh and fruity."

Both the wines go well with spicy Asian cuisines, especially salads, seafood and curries. He's experimented with food. Did tastings at restaurants, mixed and matched his wines with different cuisines, and come away satisfied.

His reward... for the nightmare that the crushing of the first vintage turned out to be. "We started at 5 o'clock in the morning and continued till 2 next morning... for 10 days! Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. But the grapes were so futuristic, they produced such beautiful wine. Kerry Damskey was blown away!"

On a roll, Rajeev next saw a market for champagne. (Move over, Shamrao Chougule!) He got buddy Rahul Mehrotra to design his vineyard and bungalow in Nashik, then built an underground cellar, an aging room, and produced Sula Brut Method Champenoise, a sparkling wine.

India has happily accepted Rajeev Samant and his Sula wines. People first baulk at his prices. But after they have the first sip, they ask, "Sure this is Indian?" And word has spread about the Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. To spread it further, he put on his Stanford thinking cap and came up with the Tuesday Club � a marketing gimmick to popularise Sula wines.

The concept was simple. Call a party at some cool place, invite the dotcom people, new venture capitalists, offer them a few free glasses of wine, or champagne, several appetisers that match the drinks, get them hooked onto the wines, then make them buy the next round! "It succeeded, so I jettisoned the dotcom chaps and got bigger.

I invited bankers, media people, advertising and marketing types, technology chaps, all professionals, no models and VJs. My sponsors approved. I provided a live band, made sure that whoever came had a good time and made new contacts. It's now a huge and popular networking party!"

What's the future hold in store for Sula? "A red wine," says Rajeev. "I've already planted India's first Shiraz (from Australia) grapes. And a Zinfandel from California." Sula means sun-like. The company's named after his mother, Sulabha, and he hit upon it while thinking up a name that was not pseudo French. "Sula represents the sun. When you think of wine, you think of lovely grapes growing in the sun."