MP Sharma turned winemaker after retirement. He goes to the Vinchur wine park of Sankalp Winery where he makes Vinsura wines.
NASHIK: He is more than 70 years old, but he drives 65 km to work everyday to be at a place where he can explore his passion. MP Sharma is a teacher who turned winemaker after retirement. He goes to the Vinchur wine park of Sankalp Winery where he makes Vinsura wines, among the best of the Nashik Valley wines.
At his lab overseeing huge wine tanks, Sharma feels at home in his new profession. "The blending is important, but fine wine is not made only in a winery; the process begins in the vineyard," — his lined face glows as he speaks on a subject that is closest to his heart.
Before taking up wine-making, Sharma taught chemistry for 26 years at the The Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, and he says blending acids and alkalis was equally fulfilling. "I thoroughly enjoyed my life as a chemistry master. Every year was a value addition," he says.
Sharma's dalliance with wine began when he got a scholarship from the British Council to study "new developments in science teaching" at St Luke's College of Education in Devonshire. One of the teachers at St Luke's used to make wine at home.
When Sharma left England, he carried with him a book on wine-making and some raw material. "In Bombay, I used to buy grapes that came in matkas from Bangalore and tried my hand at both white and red wine. I also tried making beer but wine interested me more."
Then in 1997 his life changed when he wanted a large consignment of grapes from Nashik. He approached a former student, Rajeev Samant (of Sula Vineyards), for the grapes. "I wanted about 100 kg and he asked, 'for what'. 'Wine', I said, and he asked me to come down to Nashik where he was planning to start a winery. I met his consultant wine-maker from California, Kerry Damesky, who was impressed by my home-made wines. He was a wine-maker without a chemistry background and I was a chemistry man with no professional background of wine-making. We clicked."
The next year Sharma began his career as a wine-maker at Sula Wines after retiring as a chemistry teacher from Cathedral.
Later he joined Vinsura because he felt he needed to support the serious efforts being made by a group of farmers in the region to make good wine. "I can't forget the first crush at Vinsura."
Sharma checks every aspect of wine-making, from selecting the best time to harvest to the maturing of the wines. He visits the vineyards regularly to make sure the berries are growing the right way.
He considers himself lucky to be able to pursue a hobby as a profession. A nature lover, he has widely trekked the Himalayas and has been a photographer too. He also arranges treks and guides young trekkers. Today, at the winery he is grooming young wine-makers to become mature in their art of wine making. "There is a great potential to the wine business and also to a career as a wine-maker. All one needs is a passion in one's work," he believes.
"I enjoyed being a teacher and I enjoy being a wine-maker. Wine-making has changed my attitude to life. It has made me more social," says Sharma.
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