A fruit winery in the Philippines is aiming big and about to hit to world with their tropical fruit wines.
An interesting article by Paul Icamina.
TAGAYTAY – Tropical fruit wines are aiming for big bucks.
Starting this summer, two container vans of fruit wines will be market-tested in four Los Angeles outlets of Costco, one of America’s largest chain retail stores with 170 branches.
Each container van carries 12,000 bottles. Before that, one container van was shipped each month by Tropical Fruit Winery Corp.
When all’s well, a US group will finance an industrial-scale winery, the first in the country, to rise in a two-hectare lot in San Pablo, Laguna.
“The P100-million winery may be Asia’s biggest,” said Elbert S. Pigtain, Tropical Fruit Winery CEO who is in final negotiations with the Americans. “The target is to supply all Costco outlets.”
Costco is the largest membership warehouse club chain and the third largest retailer in the United States. It is the ninth largest retailer and the largest retailer of fine wines in the world.
Raw material is a problem but not insurmountable, Pigtain told Malaya Business Insight here on the sidelines of a National Economic Development Authority meeting where regional officials came to hear about the country’s budding industries.
The calumpit fruit, for example, is now rare in Bulacan. There are ways to source the fruits, like encouraging Aetas in Zambales and Mt. Pinatubo to gather bignay fruits instead of cutting them down traditionally for charcoal and fuel wood.
“If there’s a demand, people will plant and conserve the fruits. It can generate employment and create entrepreneurs,” he said.
One of the country’s major wine makers, Pigtain had his biggest sales of about P5 million in 2007, going down after that because of the global crunch. He is optimistic of an upturn, with 60 percent of his wines exported and yet to penetrate other markets.
“I’m now experimenting with sparkling fruit wine and liqueur,” he said, adding the local market is concentrated in Metro Manila, mostly in supermarkets, peaking during Christmas as high-end gifts.
The competition is stiff. Decent imported wines may cost less than P200, the average price of local fruit wines. “That’s because our production cost is too high, packaging materials are limited, starting with containers because we only have two bottle manufacturers and we compete with their products.”
North America and Europe also slap stiff tariffs “because wine is their bread and butter,” he explained. “We should do the same for imported wines.”
To illustrate, duhat is expensive to produce because it ripens in just two weeks. One has to wait for the next year’s harvest to replenish stocks while current raw materials are put in cold storage. “Then you never know if a typhoon will hit next season’s duhat harvest,” Pigtain said.
While mango is harvested year-round, duhat and bignay are seasonal and ripen fast. Fermentation is short, mellowing and clarifying is long – about a year and two months for mango.
“You can’t and shouldn’t compete with grape wine,” said Dr. Alexander Madrigal, Department of Science and Technology director for Southern Luzon, which has the country’s largest concentration of tropical fruit wine makers, dominated by lambanog from coconut.
“One should find a niche market,” said Madrigal who is encouraging the region’s wine makers to go big time.
“Mango wine is premium because we grow the most delicious in the world,” he said. “Because our fruits are sweet, they tend to be on the sweet side; we need to develop dry wines.”
“The industry is growing,” Madrigal said, noting a significant increase in the entry in the last five years of cheaper spirits, including fruit and rice wines, from Australia, China, Chile, Japan and South Korea.
For tropical fruit wines, the market has proven that duhat and bignay are the most competitive, he added.
“I’m not competing with grapes because our products are different,” Pigtain said. “The beauty of local fruits is that each has its health benefits. Duhat is said to cure diabetes, bignay has anti-bacterial properties and brings down high blood pressure.”
Pigtain started small, as a blender in a fish sauce and vinegar factory; in 2004, he started his own winery in San Mateo, Rizal, producing 200 bottles a month.
He uses common bottle stocks, playing with labels instead of standard packaging. “We have to get away from traditional designs, putting photos up front with short descriptions of the fruits foreign consumers may not be familiar with.”
“Doing wine is not easy,” Pigtain said. “If you ask me, I won’t do it again. It is more a passion than a business.”
“You have to do it blindfolded,” he said. “Else if you look back at the expenses you won’t do it again.”
Here is a nice article on “yours truly” writen by Amanda Allison of Vines Magazine. Enjoy!
Dominic Rivard says as a winemaker, he thrives on challenges.
That’s a good thing, because he’ll face a lot of them in his new job at Luckett Vineyards in Nova Scotia.
“The opportunity to make wines in a wine region that is still very much in the development stages does get me excited,” said the eager Rivard.
“Working with innovative grape varieties and interesting hybrids perfectly suited to this less forgiving climate and turning them into world class wines will be a lot of fun.”
Rivard will rely on his 15 years of experience in the winemaking industry to develop Luckett Vineyards into a high-quality winery. The 10-acre vineyard is located in the Gaspereau Valley on the East Coast, where Rivard and owner Pete Luckett have plans to expand with another 25 acres of vines over the next few years.
“We will make the winery a showcase of the best of what Nova Scotia hospitality, culture and cuisine is all about,” said the Quebec-born sommelier.
After studying winemaking and oenology at UC Davis in California and passing the Wine and Spirit Education Trust diploma with distinction, Rivard is now studying towards his Master of Wine accreditation. Specializing in dessert wine and Icewine production, Rivard is also well known as an authority in fruit wine making, which he hopes to continue in this new venture.
“Truly excellent fruit wines are now being made in BC, Ontario and other provinces and there is no reason why excellent nationally award-winning fruit wines can’t be made in Nova Scotia,” said Rivard about his new home. His focus will be on growing ideal fruit, including grapes, in such an unpredictable climate.
“The vineyard site here is well positioned to take advantage of the warming effect of the Bay of Fundy, however getting the Brix levels (a measurement of sugar ripeness) and acid balance needed in grapes will require more than just our proximity to this body of water,” said Rivard about the special trellising techniques and heavy pruning at the ideal time to ensure optimum ripeness and therefore balance in his wines.
Winemaking in Nova Scotia may not be a task for the faint of heart, but Rivard feels up to the challenge.
PATNA: Vijay Mallya-promoted United Breweries (UB) is planning to set up a litchi processing plant at Patahi in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district to make wine, an official said Friday.
The company has taken 100 acres of litchi gardens on lease at Kanti and Motipur blocks in Muzaffarpur. It has plans to take another 1,000 acres from the farmers.
The processing plant would come up by the end of next year. “The UB group has already initiated move to purchase land to set up the plant,” a district administration official told.
About 70 per cent of litchis produced in India are grown in Muzaffarpur and neighbouring districts. The group was keen to use the sweet, pulpy and juicy fruit that grows in abundance in these areas to produce wine.
A company official, Rajeev Ranjan Ojha, said litchis would be sent to Bangalore directly from the gardens this year to produce wine. But from next year, the litchis would be processed locally.
The UB group and Litchika International have approached Muzaffarpur-based National Litchi Research Centre to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to use its technology for making litchi-flavoured wine, said K.K. Kumar, director of the centre.
Kumar said that scientists at the centre had developed litchi-flavoured wine by mixing pulpy extracts of the fruit with various types of spirits. They replicated the technology after conducting preliminary laboratory experiments in Thailand and Beijing.
The union agriculture ministry has approved the transfer of technology.
Last year the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) director, Mangala Ram, had impressed upon Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that the state could increase its revenue by using the ‘shahi litchi’ variety of the fruit, largely grown in Muzaffarpur, for making wine.
The state government then decided to set up plants in Muzaffarpur for this purpose.
Officials at the centre said wine from the fruit would help litchi farmers. “They would not be forced to sell litchis at throwaway prices and there will be less chance of damage due to poor processing and packaging facilities,” said one of them.
I recently found out about a new fruit winery producing one of the wines that I think may have the highest potential to really make it “mainstream” soon. Especially with the focus on health benefits, anti-oxidants, innovation and uniqueness of flavour that is out there these days.
What I’m talking about are the pomegranate wines of TwinPom winery in California.
TWIN POMS wine is a small production wine company located in Madera, California. Their 100% pure Californian Pomegranate wine is grown and processed locally, from the exotic and healthy super fruit known as the pomegranate, hand selected at optimum ripeness, crushed immediately and made into a delicious and unique fruit wine.
Twin Poms is made with fresh fruit, never using concentrate or lesser quality foreign or imported juice, nor has the juice been pasteurized or has had any artificial ingredients added to the wine to change flavor. They believe that it is important to maintain the value and integrity of the fruit so that the wine retains its high level of health benefits for which the pomegranate is well known for.
Twin Poms controls the entire production process. They are the grower of the fruit and the producer of the wine. They strives to grow the largest, juiciest, most colorful pomegranates packed with the highest concentrations of antioxidants, poly-phenols, and resveratrols.
Nick and Brian Davis are twin brothers and creators behind Twin Poms wine. Born and raised in California, they have been farming all their lives. Nick and Brian are fourth generation farmers and their family has been farming wine grapes and almonds over 34 years in Mecca, the San Joaquin Valley. Nick and Brian are both Graduates of California State Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with degrees in Viticulture, Enology, and Marketing so they are well positioned to do very well with their new wine venture.
The inspiration for their wine comes from the desire to be a little different. They wanted something that would stand out in the plethora of wines consumers have to choose from. As wines are growing in uniqueness and style, a pomegranate wine stands out in a category of its own. It is rare, unique, and exotic and represents the essence of the pomegranate.
Pomegranates have nearly twice the acid than that of grapes; consisting primarily of Citric Acid as opposed to Tartaric Acid giving our wine a completely different mouth feel.
The Alcohol content is 12.6% with approx. 3.5% residual sugar, although, this wine does not fall into the category of sweet wine. The wine was made to be more mobile and versatile than traditional wines. The name and packaging is simple, fun focuses on the consumers looking for a unique flavor or something with a twist, something known for being healthy, with a high antioxidant level. Consumers are purchasing products associated with or produced from pomegranates, including health beverages and juices and carbonated drinks, so this wine fits the bill perfectly.
These wines are worth looking out for, I certainly can’t wait to try these wines. As soon as I do, I will upload my tasting notes…
