Anjita Pradhan visits Vineyard, the new one-stop wine shop in town.

Kathmandu: When I reached Vineyard, Jeevan K Acharya, executive director, was busy with preparations of the launch programme of his newly opened shop at Baber Mahal. I helped myself around the place while he took care of a few task before we sat for a brief interview. With 15 years of knowledge on wines and spirits, Acharya updated me with the history of wines in Nepal. “It’s been 7-8 years that the wine culture is gradually building in Nepal. Slowly people are getting close to drinking wine in a good way. The arena of wine is vast that to know about grapes, vintage, labels, price and right product is very necessary. Drinking wine just for the sake of it is not enough. One has to know the preparation and the storage as well,” says Acharya.

He believes wine is like a baby and needs a lot of care. This is one reason, he quotes, of opening a shop, which is not only a retailer but also provides information of the products they sell in his shop. “We are here with the motive to introduce drinking as an elite culture because people have the wrong notion of drinking which we want to correct,” adds Acharya.

Whether you are tasting wine at a party or at a vineyard, rules for wine drinking and tasting are the same. “People should know what food goes with wine. Cheese and wine are the best combination, so we have opened this shop in association with Nina Hager and Silver Mountain School of Hotel Management. Nina Hager will be providing us with the best meat imported from Australia and Silver Mountain’s students will get a kind of practical class at Vineyards,” shares Acharya.

Acharya feels that the time has come when society needs to know about the culture of wine. “With this concept we have come up with this shop which will not only be known as a retailer shop but will be a centre for information, training and testing of wine,” says Acharya. Walking among the best and the costliest wines, my eyes fell on a plasma TV and I wondered about its significance inside a wine shop. Acharya mentioned that the customers will get to watch DVD’s which will give them information on the history of wines and whiskeys. Besides, Acharya is also planning to keep books for curious customers. “There are people who would love to know more about cocktails and mock tails. At Vineyard we believe in drinking responsibly, so we want to market wine and other drinks as something that is social and relaxing. We will also provide Internet facilities for those who want to browse the Net for more information on the drink,” says Acharya. Good news for those who would love to have a bar at home. At Vineyards you will get the entire set for a home bar. “Not only do we help people select drinks for home bar but we also provide free service to them. We help organise small parties and provide a bartender for free,” says Acharya. So walk in and buy your taste of wine with a difference this time. (Vineyard opens its doors to guests and customers from 5 pm on April 30, 2005)