Editor,
The present MDA government’s initiative to legalise and promote local wine of the State is an excellent initiative that has helped local entrepreneurs and local wine making units to come up with more varieties and quality.
In fact, the organisers and founders of the Shillong Wine Festival should be given due recognition for taking this festival not only to promote local wine making talent but also for developing a market linkage with other partners and units as well as helping local entrepreneurs in the wine making sector.
Though the local wine industry is at its nascent stage, what should be done is to increase greater awareness amongst the local individual farmers and farmer groups who are engaged in horticultural activities to collaborate with registered wine and spirits manufacturers across the State. They form the back-end support in the entire value chain and supply line in sync with these local entrepreneurs.
Another aspect is to establish a state-funded wine and spirit institute for standardisation of wine processing as well as for people who could become wine makers, or a trained sommelier and even certified wine specialists to inculcate courses that are standard at par with the wine industry.
There is so much potential to create indirect and direct jobs from this initiative in the coming years but the last call depends on one’s interest and more support from the State government.
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong
