Sula Vineyards, producer of a wide range of eponymous still and sparkling wines, has launched the first ever batch of made-in-India grape seed oil, a well known and highly prized by-product of the wine-making process.
The Nashik-based vintner has successfully extracted the oil after cold pressing the seeds that remain after grapes have been crushed and the juice which is used to make wine has been extracted.
“Till now we used to compost the seeds, which because of their stony nature do not decompose easily,” says Rajeev Samant, founder and CEO, Sula Vineyards.
Sula’s first production batch of extra virgin grape seed oil is around 30,000 bottles, and the company has tied up with Godrej venture Nature’s Basket for marketing it, he added.
With a distinctive nutty flavour, emollient properties and high smoke point, grape seed oil is used both for consumption as well as in the cosmetic industry. On the price front it compares with that of extra virgin olive oil.