Our Team

After travelling the world familiarizing herself with the different wine growing regions of South Africa, Italy, France, Australia, and California, Shambhavi gained a deep understanding of wines and its complexities.

It’s this understanding that bore fruits for her as the first woman in India to set up a boutique winery. She believes boutique wineries create exceptional handcrafted wines that demonstrate the highest quality in limited quantities and a large reserve range.

In 2003, Shambhavi planted the first vineyard in the Nandi Valley appellation. Eight years later, she knew SDU Winery had to start here to become something truly exceptional. Combining her passion for fine wines with a knack for managing everyday business operations of a winery, she found the art of making wine a sensorial experience. With a state-of-the-art winery located in Southern Karnataka, Shambhavi is recognized as one of the pioneers in the boutique winemaking movement.

Our winemaker Andrea Valentinuzzi has his roots from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of north-east Italy, has over 35 years of experience in viticulture and winemaking with various Italian wineries (including Casa Girelli and Cantine Pallavicini). He has been working in India since 2006 and has extensive winemaking consulting experience internationally. He strives to create wines that reflect the personality of these great vineyards. Andrea is very much a ‘hands-on’ winemaker, and has been closely and personally involved in every aspect of setting up the winery and making the wine – the end-product exemplifies his skills, vision and passion.