Rajasthan is now producing the first ever dates wine at its newly set up unit in Sirohi district on the Rajasthan Gujarat border.
Dates have been traditionally used as a nutritional food with religious importance. But the desert fruit is presently in high spirits. Rajasthan is now producing the first ever dates wine at its newly set up unit in Sirohi district on the Rajasthan Gujarat border. Having recently begun production, the winery uses Barahi dates from Kutch in Gujarat. The clear golden amber liquid has a Greek name; Zorba and an alcohol content of 13.5 %.
“We initially got dates from Gujarat, but this year the crop is exceptionally good in Rajasthan and we will now procure the local fruit,” said Jaswant Singh, one of the owners hailing from Gujarat.
Ask him about how the idea came about and what comes forth is an interesting story about a farmer trying to cut his losses.
“One of our partners is a farmer from Kutch who grows dates at a large scale. For years he had been concerned about the small fortnight-long shelf-life of dates. He would incur losses every year on the unsold and over ripened fruit. That is where the idea of a winery came about. It offers immediate utilisation of bulk produce,” added Jaswant Singh.
The winery was launched after intensive research on all aspects since 2015. With the product already being sold in Rajasthan, the producers are in the process of distributing it in Punjab, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh. “Our amber coloured wine is made from Barahi (yellow) grapes. We will soon make a red coloured wine from red dates,” said Harpreet Singh, a partner in the unit.
“We are in the process of producing red wine from pomegranate and white wine from grapes. By the end of this year we will begin producing wine made out of kinnu, orange and guava.
The unit can produce 2 lakh litre per year and from this year onwards it will take most of the raw material from Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer.
Tourist Destination
“We are seeking permission from the excise department for carrying out on-premises sale. Once we get that, we plan to launch the winery as a tourist destination,” said Jaswant Singh elaborating on his plans.
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