THE LATEST NEW WORLD WINE IS HOMEGROWN AND FRUITY… AND CAUSING A GLOBAL STIR IN THE WORLD OF WINES BY MAGGIE BEALE

When a major French fi gure – a superstar in Bordeaux wine circles – says, “I am Filipina”, it certainly gets one’s attention.
And when this fi gure is discussing the delicious new fruit wines coming out of the Philippines, it lends credence to one of the country’s most exciting ventures.

The lady in question is none other than May Eliane de Lencquesaing, doyen of Chateau Pichon Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande; and the venture is a new wine made, not from grapes, but from a variety of tropical fruit, indigenous to the Philippines.

Over dinner in her magnifi cent castle in Pauillac, France, surrounded by the highly prized vines of Pauillac and Saint-Julien, de Lencquesaing reveals more about the Philippine connection.

“My grandmother was born in Manila, and I have lived there also – I love it,” she says. “I always feel as if I’m coming home when I get to Manila – more than I do in France,” – though her 185-acre (75-hectare) domain is a showplace of perfection, built in pale stone, surrounded by vast lawns, stately tall trees and sweet-smelling rose gardens.

FROM THE GRAPEVINE

De Lencquesaing had an early experience with fruit wine. “In Manila, 20 years ago, a friend offered me wine with lunch,” she says. “I was amazed when she asked if it needed more strawberries, saying they’re lovely berries, they come from Baguio! To me, it wasn’t wine at all.”

Not surprising when you consider the wines of Pichon-Lalande are actually made under the very strict rules of the French wine authority, and every grape is regulated.

Of immense richness, they fetch top prices: in the United States, one bottle of the 1997 vintage of Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande goes for between US$70 to $95 (PHP3,601 to 4,888), depending on where it is sold (different US states have their own tax system).

“Wines made from tropical fruit may be pleasant, but since the time of the Romans and the ancient Greeks, wine has been made from grapes,” explains de Lencquesaing.

“Of course, everything has progressed now. Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan have an understanding of wine, and it’s coming to the Philippines and continental China too. There are wine clubs in Manila, but it will take time to get beyond that.”

HARVESTING WINE

Technically speaking, all fruits ferment naturally and will produce alcohol under the right conditions. The Australian Standard guides say that fruit or vegetable wine is prepared from a complete or partial fermentation of fruit, vegetables, grains and/or cereals.

Not so long ago, in the early 1980s, nobody thought that wine could be made in China. Now, with several companies successfully producing wines in China for a demanding international market, that belief has been thrown out of the window.

Things may be changing even faster in the Philippines. One very enterprising Filipino is Greg Araño who, together with his wife Zeny, has started up Patubas wines, based in Los Baños. Patubas is a Hiligaynon word meaning “harvest”. Considering that the hot climate is too much for grapes, he makes wine from tropical fruits such as mango, bignay, duhat, guyabano and pineapple.

“All fi ve fruits we use are found in the Philippines,” says Araño. “We source the wild varieties – bignay, guyabano and duhat – from the nearby mountain people. They know where to fi nd the best berries. These are brought to us by our harvester-contacts in an almost ready-to-process state.”

“We prefer duhat that is grown in southern Manila, especially Cavite. The fruit from that part of the country is of better quality than up north. Its juice is darker in color and sweeter in taste. We get most of our pineapples from Calauang, Laguna. It’s the sweetest and the best pineapple in the country.”

A NOD FOR NEW WORLD WINES

A very positive reaction to the new venture comes from another luminary with strong connections to Bordeaux. Founding Maitre of the Commanderie de Bordeaux Jakarta Chapter, and Maitre Emerite of the Commanderie de Bordeaux Hong Kong Chapter, Agustin Que was born in Manila and now resides in Indonesia. Previously in the merchant banking business in Hong Kong, he is now engaged in Corporate Finance and Private Equity for a leading Indonesian family-owned conglomerate.

Being the Maitre in Hong Kong from 1989 to 1997, he is an accomplished authority on wines and an avid collector of fi ne wines. When he resided in Hong Kong, his spare room in his home was piled high with bottles bearing some of the most celebrated labels in the world. Even the attached bathroom had its share of Chateaux labels. Que counts some of the wine world’s top wine families amongst his lists of friends.

Delighted to hear the fruit-based wines of the Philippines are being re-invented and just being released to the market, he recalled there were similar fruit wines in production some years ago in the country that sadly faded away.

“I would consider these wines from fruits other than grapes to be the newest of the New World wines. These should be exciting new additions to the Philippine food and wine experience,” Que declares.

“I look forward to doing a food and wine matching of these wines, particularly those from duhat – similar to black grapes in taste and acidity, and guyabano which is similar in texture and fl avor to ripe viognier. These go well with such dishes as chicken and pork adobo, and deep-fried milkfi sh bellies.”

Que’s identifi cation of the characteristics and similarity to well-known grape wines should be of help to Patubas wines and Greg Araño. So too, can the world of food experimentation.

SOURCES OF WINE

A few years ago, research at Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in New York found that wine could be successfully made from fruit such as cherries, strawberries, apples; and vegetables such as rhubarb.

Robert Kime, a food science manager, discovered that temperature control was the key. Alcohol is a solvent that can react with and dissolve fl avor compounds in fruit and vegetables when it reaches a certain strength. Fermentation can be stopped abruptly by refrigeration at -2C (28 degrees Fahrenheit).

TIME IN PERSPECTIVE

Like life encounters, the experience of food and wine are personal. How you see them depends on your viewpoint. Experiences can be fl eeting for some and a whole lifetime for others – and some things are simply timeless.

Perhaps Madame de Lencquesaing put things in perspective when she said, “I am Filipina. My family is Filipina, of course! We went to the Philippines from Seville in Spain – in the 1600s!”

What’s a century or two when you can count your ancestry going back hundreds of years, and four centuries seem but a minute in time. Hang in there, Greg Araño – it’s early days yet!

how fruit wine is made

Greg Araño: “The fruit is fermented and aged in a glass vat for a minimum of six months in our plant in Las Piñas, Metro Manila — except for mango, which takes at least one year before it is ready.

If wines are to be given a decent time to ferment, it’s at least two years from production to market. They are made from all-natural fruit — no fruit concentrate is added — and contain 12 per cent natural fruit alcohol, distributed in 650ml green bottles.

Bottling takes place in our second plant in the Science and Technology Park in the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna, 70km south of Manila.

“The cork is imported and the PVC capsule (or collar) is custom-made for us in China. Our fi rst vintage was bottled in January 2004. At present, only four varieties are available in the market. Mango is not ready yet.”