Date of Visit: 12 August 2026
Venue: Rhythm Winery, Hill Crest Foods and Beverages Private Limited, Navlakh Umbre, Maval, Pune
Learning becomes more meaningful when classroom knowledge meets real-world experience. On 12 August, we had the opportunity to visit Rhythm Winery, operated by Hill Crest Foods and Beverages Private Limited. The visit introduced us to the world of fruit wines and gave us practical knowledge about their production, presentation and tasting.
One of the most interesting things we learned was that wine can be made from several fruits apart from grapes. At the winery, we learned about wines made from plum, peach, pineapple, jamun, strawberry, kiwi, Alphonso, mulberry and raspberry.
We were also introduced to the basic process of making fruit wine. It begins with harvesting and crushing the fruits, followed by steam and pulp segregation. Yeast is then added to the pulp and fermentation takes place at a controlled, cool temperature. The wine then undergoes clarification and hot stabilization. We learned that bentonite clay can be used to remove charged particles and improve clarity. The wine is then kept at around 4°C, remaining deposits are removed, and finally the wine is bottled.
Another useful lesson was how to read a wine label. We learned that labels provide information about the fruit or grape variety, wine name, winery, origin and other product details. The back label can include the batch number, MRP, address and customer-care information.
The highlight of our visit was the wine-tasting session. We tasted Alphonso, Strawberry and Red wine and learned the 4S method of wine tasting See, Sniff, Sip and Summarise. We observed the wine, experienced its aroma, tasted it carefully and then formed an overall impression. This helped us understand that wine tasting is a sensory experience involving much more than simply tasting a beverage.
Overall, the visit to Rhythm Winery was an informative and memorable experience. It helped us connect our classroom learning with practical knowledge about beverage production, presentation and tasting. As hospitality and tourism students, the experience gave us a better understanding of an important part of the hospitality industry and made our learning more engaging and enjoyable.