Nandi valley set to be wine tourism hub

 After losing the wine park to Vijayapura, Nandi valley in Chikkaballapur district is set to become a hub of wine tourism from next year onwards.

Officials in the Karnataka Wine Board (KWB) are working out the details of the project which aims to promote wine tourism and get a share of the lucrative enterprise currently dominated by private wineries. The board will design the tour with the help of the Horticulture Department.

The board wants to attract tourists, especially foreigners, who presently enjoy wine tourism programmes organised by private companies on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Though the KWB promotes wine tourism, private wineries never share the profit with it.

KWB Director T Somu said that wine tourism would be started under Public Private Partnership (PPP). Wine boutiques will also be started across Karnataka to boost wine tourism.

The KWB has demarcated three valleys — Krishna valley, which covers Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Bidar, Hampi valley comprising Koppal, Raichur, Gadag and Ballari, and Nandi valley.

A winery will be developed over 60 acres of land at the footsteps of Nandi Hills, alongside a 10-lakh litre wine boutique to promote wine tourism, wine cafe, wine tasting lounge and wine institute.

The KWB had initially proposed the wine park at Nandi Hills, but farmers and horticulture officials felt there was better scope in Vijayapura, the hub of grape cultivation in Karnataka. The 141-acre wine park will come up at Torvi village in that district.