Bali, wine is at home

A long time ago, I had a chat with some of my restaurant clients about wine in general, and it was them – just back from a trip to Bali – who told me this fantastic story of wine and viticulture in an environment I never would have expected to produce wine.

The island of Bali is the smallest province of Indonesia and includes some smaller nearby islands called Nusa and Penida. It is the most popular tourist destination in Indonesia, not only for its beaches and paradisiacal vegetation, but for its art, which includes both traditional dance and modern dance, sculpture, painting, and more. And do you know what else is interesting in Bali? Wine, of course. I had heard it mentioned by some of my clients many weeks ago and I was fascinated. How can one think of producing wine in a climate so particularly unsuited to wine production? Here is what I discovered. A long time ago, I had a chat with some of my restaurant clients about wine in general, and it was them – just back from a trip to Bali – who told me this fantastic story of wine and viticulture in an environment I never would have expected to produce wine. For production they use a grape native to the area (yes, native to Bali) whose name sounds almost absurd: Probolinggo Biru, a white grape. They actually use two other grapes as well: one of French origin that I believe is nearly forgotten, the Alphonse-Lavallée (red), and the Belgia balinese (white), a clone of Moscato di Alessandria. The Probolinggo Biru, about which I cannot find sufficient information, I will simply mention by name.

The Alphonse-Lavallée, about which a little more can be found, is a vigorous grape variety with late-budding shoots. It is cultivated in Valencia and Alicante and normally ripens between mid-August and early September; the remarkable thing is that in Bali, with a temperature that is practically summer-like almost all year round, the grape ripens THREE times in 365 days! Essentially THREE harvests per year (this applies to all the grape varieties mentioned above, which is why vigorous vines are needed). The bunch is medium-large, conical-cylindrical in shape with grains that are not too tightly packed. A beautiful red color, with the bunch well attached to the stem. It has excellent resistance to transport and processing. The Belgia is quite rare and finding sufficient information is difficult, so I leave it to you to investigate more thoroughly. But who could be the winery that had the courage to embark on this arduous path of wine production in such a hostile environment? The name is HATTEN, a winery founded in 1994 in the heart of Sanur, a small town on the south-eastern coast of Bali, by a Balinese family who, with a hotel attached to the winery, wants to offer tourists a full 360-degree experience of Bali's food and wine culture. Speaking of production, they claim to have produced 300 vintages of their rosé in 17 years! Cultivation: the grapes are grown using the "pergola" method, which uses wooden poles or sometimes trees, placed close together and positioned above the vine shoots between one row and the next, allowing the vines to grow and form a kind of roof between one row and the next. This serves not only to protect the grapes from the harsh sun but also the growers themselves, both during vine work and during harvest. The vines are constantly pruned (due to the heat and frequent rains), but the main problem is an excess of insects, which are very common and in many cases harmful to the vine, causing infections in the plants, roots, and the fruit itself. Production is very substantial in rosé, made with Alphonse-Lavallée, with the first vintage in 1994. It is a semi-sweet, fresh wine, suitable as an aperitif or paired with Balinese fish-based dishes. Then there is a dry white wine, made with Belgia called Aga White, with notes of lime and lemon, floral with excellent acidity. Then there is a red made with Alphonse-Lavallée called Aga Red, associated with Beaujolais-Nouveau – therefore light-to-medium bodied, fresh, and floral with prominent cherries and strawberries. A semi-sweet wine is also not to be missed (and it is not the only one), obtained from Belgia left to ripen for a long time, resulting in little water and a high concentration of sugars and minerals, called Alexandria. Moving on to sparkling wines: Tunjung, made with Probolinggo Biru, using the champenoise method and aged in contact with the yeasts for 1 year – citrusy and floral with a light touch of toastiness. The second is called Jeplung, a sparkling rosé produced using the Champenoise method with Alphonse-Lavallée grapes, resulting in a slightly sweet style. In fact, the most famous wine – and the one my couple of clients spoke of with the greatest admiration – is the Pino de Bali. This wine is produced drawing inspiration from the French Pineau des Charentes, a fortified wine made by adding cognac before the end of fermentation, well known in the Charente-Maritime and Charente area (AOC). Production involves using Alphonse-Lavallée and Belgia grapes with the solera method and 5 years of aging in oak barrels. It is described as an aperitif wine (probably due to its still notable acidity and because consumers are perhaps more inclined toward sweet wines), but I would love to make a trip to Bali – on the pretext of a tasting, perhaps – and check for myself ;).