Say cheers to desi wine,from Punjab

Forget the French wine,you can soon have a taste of our very own Punjabi wine.

Forget the French wine,you can soon have a taste of our very own Punjabi wine. The situation is ripe for it,according to Dr Gurvinder Singh,who heads a research project on wine-making at the Punjab Agricultural Universitys PAU microbiology department.

We have the know-how,based on our own research,and moreover,in a situation where farmers are being advised to diversify,we have excellent potential of making wines from fruits and honey,which is in abundance in the state. At present,our department is working on making wine from grapes. All we need is some entrepreneur to come forward to reap the benefits, said Dr Singh.

The PAU has already recommended red wine from a grape variety,Perlette,locally called the Punjab Purple.

Dr Singh says,We have a new project sanctioned by the department of biotechnology in which the department of science and technology is also a partner. Under this project,we are scaling up the wine production technology and the technologies developed for ready-to-serve beverages. After this,we will hold training programmes for entrepreneurs. Perlette is one of the varieties of grapes chiefly grown in the state. However,owing to lack of marketing opportunity here,the area under grapes has receded over the years. The department of horticulture,PAU,sent us eight varieties of grapes and we selected this one. We are also making white wine from white grapes.

We selected the red grapes because they have a longer shelf-life as compared to the white ones. The picking time for white grapes is just 15 days in the month of May. Around June,these grapes tend to lose their sweetness while red grapes have a picking time of nearly a month-and-a-half. Guava is another fruit which is in abundance in Punjab. We are in the process of standardising wines from guava. We are making natural vinegar from sugarcane. Basically,the idea is to provide value addition to crop cultivation, says Dr Singh.

The scientists at PAU lab are working on the right blending,fermenting and look of the wine. The aim is to find the perfect colour,aroma and taste. The department has a panel of 10 wine-tasters who grade every new sample for its appearance,colour,astringency,alcohol content,sourness,flavour,aroma and overall feel. Dr Gurvinder Singh,who is also a member of this panel,is,incidentally,a teetotaler.