Local winery offers three new products

Defying the prevailing economic downturn, a Philippine wine processing and bottling company launched recently three more brand new products in time for the holiday season.

These are the Secco dry Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot described as "top-of-the-line" items of the now famous Novellino wines, and Rosso dell’ Aziende of the house wine variety.

Vincent "Nonoy" Quimbo, president of Bel Mondo Italia Corp. (BMIC), cited a steady growth in the local market as Filipinos discover the advantages and romance that go with wine drinking, adding that they have the edge over the wine importers because their products were processed locally and created to specifically satisfy the Filipino palate.

"We are, in all likelihood, the only wine brand in the Philippines whose wines are specifically formulated with the Filipino in mind," Quimbo told The STAR. "All other wines are imports trying to seek a place here to gain additional business, but none of these were developed to target the Filipino consumer."

He also noted that more and more Filipinos drink wine "because they have discovered the taste they’ve been looking for."

"We plan to lift the wine consumption in the Philippines and eventually the rest of Asia to the next higher thresholds by overcoming what we believe are the major factors that inhibit wine consumption – taste, affordability and availability," he said.

Quimbo, a Business Administration graduate from the University of the Phhilippines, said their three variants of Novellino Secco dry wines are reasonably priced at P180 to P245 per 750-ml bottle.

BMIC, which employs an Italian enologist to create its products, has been locally known for its eight sweet wines classified as Classico, Traditionale, Vivace and Casual, being exclusively distributed by Marketreach Distributors Inc.

Processed and bottled at the Knutts Place Winery Inc. plant in Valenzuela City, BMIC wines come from special vinifera grape varieties largely imported from the famous Asti region in Italy.

Quimbo said their wines are guaranteed to be of fine quality as every bottle has the tag "Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC)" which is Italy’s system of accreditation of fine wine.

"This system guarantees the authenticity of the grapes claimed in the label and certifies that the production strictly adheres to the exacting standards of the region," he stressed.

He also said that because off the rigid rules being imposed by the DOC certification, their flexibility in creating new flavors and tastes is limited.

"But our Italian winemaker understands not only the Filipino taste, but also the rules of the game in Italy. Applying his extensive winemaking experience. He was able to make adjustments to come up with the desired results," Quimbo said.