Anyone for a glass of wine from the Philippines?
Like Indonesia, China and other unlikely Asian nations, the Philippines has a nascent industry, Minda News reports.
What began as a hobby in 2016 has grown into a promising start-up venture with a home-grown winemaker set to start selling wines made from locally grown grapes at a family-owned vineyard in Barangay Tacunan, Davao.
Jennifer Taglucop, one of the owners of the Taglucop Estate Vineyard & Winery, said the family plans to sell red and white wines to local and foreign tourists visiting their four-hectare vineyard.
She said the family aimed at world-class quality beverages that the Philippines could take pride in. Which might prove easier said than done.
As owners of a travel agency, she and her husband, lawyer Ferdinand, often travel abroad. During their trips, they made it a point to visit vineyards in the United States, Europe, Australia, and even Thailand.
Seeing several Filipinos visiting the vineyards abroad inspired the couple to establish their own in Davao, so that Filipino travellers would no longer have to travel overseas “just to see grapes.”
The family began growing grapes in 2016 and has since experimented with different varieties to determine which ones would thrive best in Davao’s climate.
Taglucop said her family currently cultivates shiraz, moldova, cabernet sauvignon, and moscato.
Her husband learned winemaking in the US, while her eldest son studied viticulture and oenology at the University of Adelaide in Australia.
She said the wines they have produced are currently aging in barrels stored in their cellar in Tacunan, where a wine museum is being built to educate visitors on winemaking.
They include wines fermented from palm sap, rice, sugar cane and honey, as well as fruit wines.
