February 10

Awoke and leisurely readied. We went down for breakfast only to be sent back up – breakfast will be brought to us! I did not mention we are in a VIP 'Suit' (I'm sure that is supposed to be suite). We have an actual living room and a bedroom. It is not the best place, but has good space. Anyway, breakfast came. We had one dish, Poha, which is like hashbrowns but more! It is potatoes, onions, fattened rice, spices, herbs, lemon juice, and peanuts. The other dish saw Upma, which is like a thick porridge or cream of wheat, made with semolina; lentils; bits of small chopped veggies; spices and herbs. So it is savory. I had a coffee which was too sweet  (I don't have a hot pot to heat water to make my own. Plus I ran out of the coffee I have been carrying around since South Africa!)  Jeff had masala tea.

Jeff hired a 6 hour Ola ride and when the driver showed up… well, we had to do some fanaggling. I guess the driver can only drive in the city through Ola??? Language barrier issue somewhat also. Questions?? We finally ended up canceling Ola and he took us off record for a flat fee. It worked out, but complicated. (This complication stuff seems to be the norm. It is frustrating.) That being said, rest of time was fine.

We first went to Suma Vine Village. Arriving just after 1130 am, we paid and signed up for a wine tasting of 7 wines each. We had to wait around 10 minutes for another group of three and we joined them. Our tasting included: Chardonnay Reserve, Pinot Noir Rose, Pinot Noir Reserve, then two dessert wines- a Zinfandel Rose Lichi, and a Shiraz Jamun Honey. So this was five each and we were able to pick our last two. Jeff chose two reds: Shiraz Gold, and Zinfandel Reserve; I had whites- Chenin Blanc Gold, and Viognier Reserve. The breakdown: we still don't care for dessert wines, no surprise here. Then the first three wines of the tasting were good (and probably great for an Indian wine), but not for us. The Chardonnay was not done in oak barrels, which we prefer; the Rose was more light but would go with a spicy Pad Thai: the Pinot Noir Reserve just lacked and started with a musky smell I did not care for. Now the ones we picked. Mine were just to try the different grape varietals: the Chenin Blanc was grassy – more like a Sav Blanc; and the Viognier had a great nose/smell, but no real taste. Jeff's were the winners. He had a Shiraz Gold, was great but his next the  Zinfandel Reserve, was the best for us. We bought a bottle of it for tonight. We then went on a tour of their production plant. Our guide was the same guy who did our tasting. Two other men joined Jeff and I. Our guide had to do the tour in in English and Hindi. We have done so many of these tours, it did not bother us. But they were actually corking (by hand, one bottle by one bottle) some of their Brut. This was interesting to watch. Finished with the tour and tasting, we took a few pictures and found our driver… on to the next!

Now we went to York Winery. We read that this is more a family run operation. But our first agenda is to get food! Jeff paid for coupons at the entrance (like at Sula yesterday). We found their restaurant, The Cellar Door. Again the menu was on a qr link. We ordered two starters: 1) Cheese Bomb – a cottage cheese-type ball, rolled in a seasoned breadcrumb mix, deep fried and then topped with shaving of a good flavored cheese; 2) Stuffed Tandoori Mushrooms with a slaw side salad. Then a main of Murg Tikka Masala with a garlic Naan and x2 Roti. We had a York Chardonnay and a York Cabernet Merlot. The food was very good and the wine was good but not worthy to go into. We meandered about some and then back to our car.

We backtracked about 250 meters to go to  Le Fromage Cheese Village. They advertise Artisanal Cheeses. We bought a sampler and tried young (this means not mature, and less taste, unfortunately) cheeses: Ricotta, Pepper Gouda, Chilli Gouda, 5 month mature Chilli Gouda, Gouda, Cheddar, Feta, Mozzarella, and Chive Feta. We really liked the only mature cheese – the 5 month old Chilli Gouda, and then second the Chive Feta. The owner did not have anymore Chilli Gouda, so we bought 100 grams of the Chive Feta. Loaded back into our car, and had our driver take to one last place back in the town of Nashik, Ground Zero Coffee Roasters. We arrived and I picked dark roast, dry washed coffee. He coarse ground it and sealed the bag. The shop smelled so good, and Jeff actually appreciated the smell. I really think he  is close to turning to the dark side!!

Anyway, we arrived back at our hotel and Jeff paid our driver. We got back around 3:30, so we did not use up our six hours – only 4.5 hours. We relaxed for a couple of hours and went back out around 5:30ish. We walked about to get steps and just absorb the city of Nashik. It is 2.2 million people, still noisy, and still not pedestrian friendly. We walked to the river, Godavari, crossed it and along to an area of many temples some are one room/small, and some larger. There were quite a few people down here and a few set up stalls,selling some wares. We had the one time a mom wanted her child in a selfie with us, of course, I mean why not…??? We walked along the other bank and crossed another bridge catching a decent sunset. Then we walked around a bit more, finding a shop for some water and a treat -mango pulp and milk. The first couple of bites I was not sure about it, but then the mango came through. We went back to our hotel and we had a light supper – nuts and our Chive Feta cheese with our Zinfandel Reserve. I blogged and Jeff planned. Hope to see some of you tomorrow. God Bless!!!