Meghalaya: Looking beyond the grape
Meghalaya's fruit winemaking industry is expanding beyond traditional grape-based wines, with entrepreneurs producing exotic wines from local fruits like te.gism and te.patang. Innovators such as Lyang B. Sangma and Pecindha K. Sangma are commercializing fruit wines and honey-based meads, gaining recognition at events like Vinexpo India 2024. Supported by training and grants, around 17 winemakers in the state have transitioned to commercial production using modern techniques.
- ▪Te.gism, also known as the Himalayan cherry, was documented less than a decade ago and is now cultivated for wine in Meghalaya.
- ▪Lyang B. Sangma and Pecindha K. Sangma are among the entrepreneurs producing commercial fruit wines and meads in Tura, with products showcased at Vinexpo India 2024.
- ▪About 17 fruit winemakers in Meghalaya have gone commercial, supported by training from Himachal Nectars and grants from technology centers.
- ▪Pecindha K. Sangma produces a blue wine using butterfly pea flower infused with honey, without added sugar.
- ▪Non-grape fruits like jackfruit, bayberry, pineapple, and te.patang are being used to create diverse fruit wines in the region.
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In the last couple of years, te.gism, the “fruit with a dot in its name”, has caught the imagination of wine lovers in the Northeast who fancy non-grape elixirs. Also known as the Himalayan cherry (Prunus jenkinsii), this fruit that grows in the jungles of Meghalaya’s Garo Hills remained virtually unknown until botanists documented it less than a decade ago. Today, it is cultivated by farmers in the region for the state’s burgeoning fruit winemaking industry. Alcobev in India’s Northeast | Entrepreneurs are taking mead and canned bitchi commercialLyang B.
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