Magic of Nandi

Bangalore’s closest hills station holds a special place in my heart. While most of my memories are of early morning drives on the curvy roads and the mist, that is not the only reason for this.

During a trip with my friends I discovered that one could walk up a flight of steps to get to Nandi Hills. While I could not explore the path then I have since done couple of hikes here. As opposed to the crowded noisy Nandi Hills most of us know this route is scenic, lined with gulmohar, mango and jamun trees. During summer while the birds entertained me with their songs, I got to taste some wild mangoes and jamun while walking up.

On one occasion I spent time watching yellow browed bulbul drink water from a dripping tank, another time babblers kept me company for a long time. Closer to Tipu’s guest house I had my first close encounter with Tickle’s Blue Fly Catcher. But birds are not the only ones to look out for; the trail also has a fair share of butterflies, insects and wild flowers.

The only eye sore is the garbage that is thrown closer to Tipu’s Guest house. That brings you back to reality and the impact crowds can have.

Couple of pointers

There is not restaurant on this route till you reach the top so carry water and some eats.

Careful of monkeys that are on their way up, food seems to tempt them so please keep them inside your bags.

The Fight for Survival

Most of the trips to the wildlife sanctuaries have always with the hope that I get to see the big five up close. The dream was no different this time as well. With some last minute planning I was in Bandipur for the weekend.

The jungle safari felt like a wasted trip as I didn’t spot anything except the spotted deers and wild boars. The driver didn’t stop for birds and I was feeling really low.

Just after the safari, I was headed back to the place I was staying. Close to the Bandipur Forest Office I took a left and had to break hard. On the side of the road was a fight for survival that I had never heard about.

A small cat was fighting with an adult mongoose. Claws out, hair raised, it was jumping about. The mongoose had bared its teeth as well. As I watched the mongoose and cat disappeared in to the trench fighting. I moved my car closer to catch a glimpse. I was just in time to see the mongoose bite the cat in the neck and hold it down. Sound of a vehicle behind me made the mongoose drag the cat into a bush. Initially I could still see the cat struggle and they disappeared deeper into the bush, out of sight I head the cat’s cry slowly died down.

I am not sure what happened after that as I didn’t get down from the car to investigate. I assume the mongoose made a meal of the cat.

Note: All this action happened over 2 mins and hence didn't get too many pictures. Posting the only decent shot I got.

A Sip of Wine at Channapatna

TOI on 27^th Jul 2011, mentioned Winery Visit in one of its pages. Since Dad makes wines as a hobby it caught my attention. A quick call to them and we had the needed information.

It was decided that we will visit the place on Saturday and understand the process of wine making a little better.

The place is located close to Channapatna and is open to public between 11 and 4. The directions were very clear. We had to take the left just before Kadambam on Bangalore- Mysore Highway. There was also a sign board indicating the same. We had to drive about 4 kms more from here.

Though we took the left turn, what we didn’t know was that there was another left to be taken after 2 kms. The Yellow stone board had some alphabets missing and we passed it without noticing it. Another call to the winery and after asking around in the village close by, we were direct to the right place. A kilometer ride on a mud road led us to the winery. Suddenly in between the fields and mango groves, we found a huge, newly constructed structure.

We were first taken to the Guest House and shown a video on wine types and wine making. This is a video for about 15 mins and if you already know about wines then slightly boring. After that comes the winery visit. While the company currently makes only fortified wine (port wine), manufacturing of table wines are underway. The plan to release this in the markets in the next 6 months.

We went back to the guest house after this for wine tasting. We tasted the port wines and the red wine that they are yet to launch in the market. The wine tatsed so much better here than the ones we had bought in the retail shop and consumed. The secret we were informed was in date of manufacture. Though wines manufactured in India have a validity of 1 year, contrary to the popular belief of older the wine better it is, these need to be consumed as fresh as possible.

Tasting done we were ready to leave. We bought a bottle of wine and headed back to Bangalore. A stop at Kamat Lokaruchi for Lunch and our trip was complete.

A brief about the process

The wine manufacture here right now is forfeited wines. Grapes are bought in from Devanahalli and Chickabellapur region. It is then put in a crusher and stems are separated. We were told the grapes are not washed as the skin has yeast like deposits that help fermentation. The quality control team ensures that chemical is not used while growing grapes.

After t e crushing S2O (2-3 mpp per ton) is added and its sent off to ferment in huge stainless steel tanks. Its left undisturbed for 2-3 weeks, where the seeds and skin separate from the juice. The tank is hot to touch on the outside. This is due to the ongoing gases released during the fermentation process. From here the juice is tested and decision is made on the amount of sugar and alcohol (2-3%) that needs to be added. Post that its sent for filtration and then off it goes to be bottled, label and transported to distributors.