Rajeev Suresh Samant is the founder and CEO of

Sula Vineyards Sula Vineyards (or "Sula") is a winery and vineyard located in the Nashik region of western India, 180 km northeast of Mumbai. It was founded by Rajeev Samant in 1999. Sula has grown to be India’s largest and most awarded wine brand. ...

India's largest winery.

Education and early career

Born in Mumbai in a Marathi Family , Rajeev completed his education from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

where he received a bachelor's degree in Economics, followed by a master's degree in Engineering Management. He then joined

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

as one of the youngest managers there. However, after a couple of years, he quit and decided to return to India and start something of his own.

Sula Vineyards

After backpacking around the world for a year, Rajeev returned to India where he decided to live the rural life. He started farming mangoes, roses, teak wood, and table grapes at his family's 20-acre plot in Nashik. In 1996, he had an epiphany when realized that Nashik had the perfect climate for growing wine grapes. His determination grew when he returned to California and met with Kerry Damskey, an eminent winemaker, who enthusiastically agreed to help him start a winery. In 1997, the duo took the revolutionary step of not only being the first to grow wine grapes in this region, but also planting varietals such as the French

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

and Californian Chenin Blanc that had never been planted before in India. In 1998,

was established, and launched their first wines released in 2000. Today,

is India's largest wine producer and holds a market share of 65%. They are also pioneers in Indian wine and started facilities like a tasting room and at their winery in 2005. Sula is also the only Indian wine company to be present in all price and product segments including Red, White, Rose, Sparking and Dessert wines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samant, Rajeev Living people Year of birth missing (living people)