Postcard from Kohima
It was an offer one could not refuse. And within it was another offer not to be refused.
The first was an invitation to the northeast chapter of the Old Sanawarian Society to be held in Guwhati, Assam. While I am not a regular at old school meets, I jumped at this opportunity to see a different part of India. Then, I gate crashed a trip to Nagaland, organised by Major-General Kulpreet Singh, the president of the Old School group. We were ostensibly going to the annual Hornbill Music Festival in Kohima, but here was an opportunity to explore more – culture, art, food… and, unexpectedly, wine!
Wine is a growing business in the state. The Nagas love their local wines. Sarila Lemtur from Dimapur running a stand at the Hornbill festival explains that the wines are fruitbased. Grapes, ofcourse, but also a range of other fruit, drawing upon seasonal, locally grown favourites like Java plum, tamarindo, wild apple, gooseberry, star fruit, pineapple and more. Mainly from Kohima, PhekWokha and other hilly areas. In recent years the production is becoming moreorganised with professional winemaking always using new and sanitised bottles and some aging for at least 18 months. Sarila said the wines were available openly all year, in various stores at prices ranging from Rs 600 to 1,500.
Although sales in Nagaland were good, promoters would be welcome, she said. “It is better for our products to go outside the State so that people get to know and enjoy wines from Nagaland!”
Alcoholic beverages are not officially allowed in Nagaland, but wine nevertheless is produced, marketed, consumed and sold around the state. Labels have become increasingly stylish and include innovative details. For instance, on the back label of the bottles, Lija-u, a classy wine producer with its own production facility, lists the level of dry to sweet in categories from 1 to 5, which is seldom seen on wine bottles in my experience. The fruits utilise dare also noted on each bottle. So one can immediately select a bottle of choice without reading up or asking questions of the vendor.
The wines are meticulously produced and follow the best practices.
Apart from wine, rice beer is one of the most popular beverages. Chilled, served in beautifully crafted tall bamboo containers, it is a drink of choice on hot sunny days, as well as on cool,wintry evenings, making for great events at any time of year. Further developments now include saki, chilled or warm. It remains to be seen what comes next…
To give credit where credit is due, mention must be made of the Coordinator for the Northeast Chapterwho made all this possible. Coming from a family of Nagas that produced at least four Sanawarian head boys, Yanger Changkija or YC, as he is affectionately known, seamlessly organised every detail. This was topped up by the warmth and generosity of YC’s mother and the enthusiasm of his stylish brother and sister-in-law, Ali and Naro Changkija, who were both raving about Nagaland’s red wines.
This article of Renu Chahil-Graf appeared in Vol 16, issue 2, Spring 2020 of Sommelier India.
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