|  Last year I was contacted by a person in Sri Lanka, who had heard about me and the Indian Wine Academy. He was very keen on producing wines from coconuts which are found in plenty in Sri Lanka. He was insistent on offering me hospitality and wanted me to visit and guide him as a consultant. I told him that wine production was not my area of concentration and directed him to a couple of possible helping minds. But I strongly encouraged him to continue chasing his dream of making wine from coconuts as I am a great supporter of wines made from the fruits grown locally since it reduces the wastage and thus lowers costs.
While coconut wine is considered a conventional drink in the Philippines as also in parts of Asia and other parts of the world including Africa, Filipino-American entrepreneur George Vacal Paraliza is producing it as a premium product of international quality that might be exported to all parts of the world-especially in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan and Europe.
Vacal Coconut Wine (Vino de Coco) is an all-natural wine made with the purest and sweetest coconut nectar extracted from the selected coconut palm flowers of the Philippines. Selected local farmers use the educational farming guidelines of Philippine Coconut Authority and the Department of Science and Technology to harvest the coconut sap. Strict controls on how raw material is received are implemented to ensure the freshest quality from the start of the process to completion.
The winery was established August of 2010 in Tacloban City, Leyte and renamed Vino de Coco in April of 2011 with method of producing Vino de Coco improving constantly. There are three varieties: Dry Red, Sweet Red and Sweet White. With national acceptance, the promoters hope that soon, this could become the Philippine’s National Drink (in sharp contrast to India where wine is still considered a part of the liquor family although it has been declared as the national drink by a Presidential Decree in Argentina three years ago).
DJCRATER Inc. which is the parent company of Vino de Coco was founded by George and his wife Tila Paraliza. He retired from a successful career in engineering and hobby wine making from the United States. His dream was to someday return to his homeland and apply his craft to develop the world’s finest quality coconut wine. He wants to place the Philippines on the map of the wine industry.
The wine is export-worthy and FDA approved. The company anticipates to export distribution in the coming year. The promoters consider it a drink with high nutritional value. ‘When USDA compared fresh Coconut Sap with fresh Apples, it was found that Coconut Sap has more vitamins, mineral and amino acid. It has low Glycemic Index for better control of blood sugar,’ according to the website.
The product was launched on July 25, according to the Facebook page of the company. However, there have been no postings since July 24. A query by delWine remains unanswered at the time of publishing the report. For details write directly to george@vacalvinodecoco.com
I hope the gentleman in Sri Lanka reads the current issue of delWine. And to the company, I say ‘Tagay’! Cheers!
Subhash Arora
Tags: coconut wine, Philippines, George Vacal Paraliza, Vacal Coconut Wine (Vino de Coco), Philippine Coconut Authority |