A Weekend with Wine - Heritage Winery

"Achche din aane wale hai" - This is what we could infer from the onset of the pre-monsoon showers that had briefly rescued Bangalore from the harsh summers. And the best part - Breezy and cloudy days providing a perfect stage for a longdrive. So after considering various equally beautiful options like Lepakshi, Devaryandurga and Madhugiri, we finally zeroed down on Heritage Winery for a day trip on 21st June. The plan was to start by 10.30 in the morning, reach there by 12, experience the wine tour followed by a laidback lunch at the inhouse Epulo Restaurant. Lazy Saturday morning and late breakfast ensured that we started @ 12 after picking up our friends from Electronic City. The route was straightforward and the drive, smooth. We reached the winery in less than 2 hours. There are plenty of sign boards put up on Mysore Road indicating the route, thereby making it impossible to miss the left turn after Channapatna. The last 3-4 Kms were bumpy with no road in sight, but the peaceful country-like surroundings make up for the kachcha road.

With everyone feeling hungry and the restaurant being the first thing we saw as we entered, the plan was altered to accommodate lunch first and everything else later on. Now since I had read some good reviews of the place, I was really looking forward to having a good meal there. The start was good as everything on the menu except quail was available (I have mostly observed that restaurants with limited web presence, generally shrink their menu). We ordered most of the wines on the menu as none of us wanted to miss a chance of having wine in a vineyard. For starters we ordered potato-n-cheese croquettes, chicken-a-la-kiev, BBQ wings and for the mains veg strognoff, herbed rice, chicken-la-king, grilled chicken, chicken bolognese. While everything we ordered was fresh and decent (certainly not great), the quantity left a lot be desired. The service was a bit slow but the staff was courteous. The restaurant manager Mr. Balaji updated  us later that they are planning to come up with a tented accommodation facility and a bigger restaurant :). A stroll through the green vineyard post sumptuous lunch fine-tuned the beautiful experience.

Even though it wasn't the finest of restaurants we have been to, the overall experience turned out to be a memorable one. May be it was the green surroundings, the open air restaurant or the wine - The place had a certain feel-good factor, thereby making an enjoyable experience for all of us.

Report Card:

Ambience - Good 3.5/5

Service - Good 3.5/5

Food - Good 3.5/5

We ordered 10 glasses wine, 3 starters, 5 main course and 2 desserts. The bill came to Rs. 3200/-

Over-all: Good 3.5/5 

Will I Go Back - Daytrip + Family/Friends + Wine + Laidback = I know where to go !!!

P.S. A heads-up for the people planning to take the wine tour- please be ready to bear the mild stench of rotting grapes if you are visiting outside harvesting season.

Nilgiris - The Coldest Summer Getaway for Bangaloreans

Once upon a time, in other cities of India people used to envy our city of Bengaluru for its charismatic and ever soothing weather. Not so hot and humid summers, cool but not chilled winters and wet but romantic monsoon. This is how the seasons used to present themselves to the people of Bangalore. But those are past.To escape these pains we have to remain confined within the artificial environment of our home or office.

Monday to Friday you are forced to sit on your reclining office chair and stare in front of the computer, well-guarded from the sun’s menace and then go home and again sit on your couch in front of your grand LED-TVs within the comforts of your home. But why do you have to do this on the weekends, even when God has gifted the Bangaloreans with some fantastic hillside locations in the Nilgiris. You can go on a trip to tried-and-tested ‘the queen of hills’ Ooty & Coonoor. The innumerable valleys and lakes of Red hills, acres and acres of plantation in Kotagiri and the high peaks of Avalanche hills, the Nilgiris has so much to offer that you will be spoilt for choice.  The best thing about Nilgiris is that it lies between 1500 to 2600 above msl, making it the highest and the coldest hill stations in comparison to the likes of Coorg, Wayanad & Chikamagalur. Bunk the coziness of your home, get out and experience how to it feels when the natural cool breeze strikes against your face and send you in trance.

Udhagamandalam,Ootacamund or Ooty, the queen of the hill stations is the first name that pops out when we think about the Nilgiris. Even though we have to been to this place gazillion times and it has changed from a weekend hideout to a money raking commercial tourist center; the place still has its charm and manages to burst your stress, the moment we step upon this serene world. The Rose and Botanical Gardens, the lake, the famous Nilgiris Mountain Railway aka the toy-train and its steam chugging locomotives, ‘The queen’ has lots to offer that you can ask for.

Coonoor, the second most popular hill station in the Nilgiris, is also conferred with lavishly staged or spectacular display of natural beauty. Coonoor is the most commonly visited place for bird watchers for the place is full of beautiful and rare birds including black woodpecker, parakeets, barbets, mynas, cuckoos, Malabar trogon, Malabar gray hornbill, crested hawk eagle, and crested serpent eagle. Though secondary in importance to Ooty, Coonoor offers a more secluded retreat, away from the crowds that throng Ooty. Blessed with a milder climate, Coonoor also offers some of the finest hiking and trekking in South India, which will enable you to be closest to the rolling mountains and lush green foliage of this hill resort.

Kotagiri - A jungle trail that takes you to a small stream or passing the lush green tea estates and a magnificent Mayo River, a viewpoint providing some of the most spectacular and ‘instagram’ moments that you don't even think exists, a 4 km trek up to the sacred Rangasamy Pillar or splashing waters and having the moment of the life under Catherine and Elk Falls, Kotagiri will make you go weak at the knees and leave you yearning for more. Doddabetta, the zenith of Nilgiris is just 22 km away from Kotagiri.

Avalanche and Red Hills - Situated very close to each other, Avalanche and Red Hills serves up as an alternate destination for ever crowded Ooty and are only 28 kms away from it.The place serves out a ranges of valleys and lakes on the platter to entice your adventure hunger. Be it trout fishing in the Avalanche Lake, BBQ near the Emerald Lake or a trek in the green and serene Red Hills, the place has no dearth of options for the people bitten by the travel bug.

So if a romantic holiday tucked away in the hills amidst cool-n-fresh air and verdant Nature is what you are looking for this summer, Nilgiris is your best bet. 

You can also checkout our handpicked choicest accommodations in Nilgiris: Experience Nilgiris