Editor's note: Wine appreciation is on the rise in Asia, but not all wines are the same, says Maggie Beale, as she uncovers a growing number of wines with a difference.

Since the time of the Romans and the ancient Greeks, wine has been made mostly from grapes. That's not always been true in Asia and a revival of fruit wines is on the rise here.

Not so long ago, in the early 1980's, nobody thought of making wine in China. With several companies successfully producing wines there now for a demanding international market - that belief has been discarded.

And things may be changing even faster in the Philippines. The climate is too hot for grapes, and Greg and Zeny Arano make wine from tropical fruits - namely mango, bignay, duhat, guyabano and pineapple. Only mango and pineapple are grown commercially. The three other variants are found growing wild throughout the country.

"The wild varieties, bignay, guyabano and duhat, are sourced from nearby mountains." says Greg Arano. "They're made from all-natural fruits, and it's not a fast procedure, at least two years from production to market."

Mango and pineapple are available throughout the year, more abundantly in summer (March - June). Guyabano and duhat are summer fruits. And bignay is plentiful in August.

"We get most of our pineapples from Calauang, Laguna. It's the sweetest and the best pineapple in the country. We have developed sources for duhat, bignay and guyabano and these are brought to us by our harvester-contacts in an almost ready-to-process state. We prefer duhat grown in the area south of Manila (especially Cavite). It is of better quality than up north. Its juice is darker in color and sweeter in taste.

"The fruit is fermented and aged in a glass vat for a minimum of six months in our plant in Las Pinas, Metro Manila - except for mango which takes at least one year before it's ready. Bottling takes place in our second plant in the Science and Technology Park in the University of the Philippines in Los Banos, Laguna, about 70 km south of Manila.

"The wines contain 12 percent natural fruit alcohol, and are distributed in 650ml green bottles, suitably labeled. The cork is imported and the PVC capsule (or collar) is custom-made for us in China. Our first vintage was bottled in January 2004."

Technically speaking of course, 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 fruits, vegetables, grains and/or cereals or preparations of those foods other than that produced solely from grapes.

Founding Maitre of the Commanderie de Bordeaux Jakarta Chapter, and Maitre Emerite of the Commanderie de Bordeaux Hong Kong Chapter, Agustin Que is an avid collector of fine wines. Commenting on the fruit-based wines, he said, "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 food and wine experience. I would 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 flavour to ripe viognier, with such dishes as chicken and pork adobo and deep fried milkfish stomachs."

A few years ago, food science manager Robert Kime at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station found that wine could be successfully made from fruit - cherries, strawberries, apples etc - and vegetables such as rhubarb. He concluded that temperature control was the key to success.

Arano has the facilities at the Science and Technology Park in the University of the Philippines in Los Banos, Laguna behind him. Opened in February 1995 the government-backed facility encourages entrepreneurs by providing technical backup to make them more productive. It's an initiative aimed at fostering greater technical and regional cooperation to accelerate socio-economic growth.

Now if we had that here, perhaps the day will come when guava wines (the same aromas as New Zealand's Sauvignon Blanc) made in Hong Kong will grace out wine store shelves. I can't wait to try them.

Maggie Beale can be contacted at: wineexpert1@hotmail.com

(HK Edition 05/06/2008 page4)