Have a glass, help the planet !
It’s really funny. If you type “what is wine” on
google, you find plenty of answers mentioning that “wine is an alcoholic
beverage made from grape or any other fruits or herbs”
Any other fruits or herbs... really?
I remember that, when i used to live in the U.S. a while ago, I was always a bit shocked when
my friends were bringing “passion fruit and apricot wines” to parties. And I was
the only one claiming: “how can you call this wine!? this is not wine!”. They
all had a good laugh at me, asking me where was my baguette and my camembert.
Well, why not. Let’s be open minded. There might not
be other more appropriate word to define the beverage made from the
fermentation of other fruits but grapes. So why not using the holly sacred word
“WINE”?
I’ve decided to put aside my French judgments and
investigate on a Cambodian local symbol: the Palm Wine.
The Sugar Palm tree is known as “Thnot” in Khmer
language. The Thnots are highly concentrated in Cambodia (around 3 millions of
trees in the country).
It is a real icon here. The Palm tree has been part of
the Cambodian Kingdom since ancient time and Khmers identify it as a symbol of
their territory “a Thnot is the shelter of a Khmer House”.
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| "Thnots" in Cambodia |
Most of the farmers in Cambodia spend 6 months of the
year working in the rice fields and the other 6 months – during the dry season
when the rice cannot be planted – are devoted to the palm sap collection. It
plays a very important role in providing a source of income to Cambodian
farmers.
Unlike the intensive palm oil culture, often disputed
by the eco defenders, the sap collection does not harm the tree, and does not
imply deforestation as the business is not as profitable as the Oil industry
(palm trees produce 5 to 7 times more Oil than groundnut oil for instance,
hence a lot of big Malaysian corporations are devastating Borneo primary forest
to plant Palm tree instead... other topic.).
First good point for the Palm Wine.
Moreover, Palm Wine has its own AOC (I should say IGP
for now). What a surprise! Kampong Speu province in Cambodia is one of the most
famous area for growing quality “Thnots”. Palm trees growing in that area bear
the protected appellation of “Kampong Speu”. Collection and
transformation of Sap into Palm sugar and wine is also done there.
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| Kampong Speu IGP Map |
Second good point for the Palm Wine.
So, how do we make that “wine”?
First, note that, it takes up to 15 years for a palm
tree before its first harvest of fruits and sap. So you’d better be patient in
Kampong Speu.
The flowers of the tree gives you palm sap that undergoes
a natural fermentation. This is why you’d better be quick once you’ve collected
the sap. Boil it and get Palm sugar. Or control your fermentation to produce
wine.
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| "Thnots' Fruits |
Then, no aging in barrel. At least, not yet. However,
the process of making palm wine is delicate and require a good terroir and a
strong know-how from the manpower.
Another good point for the Palm Wine.
So, is it good?
Well. Let’s be honest. We’re not drinking Chateau
Pavie here. But, nobody is trying to compete with any grand cru here.
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| Kirel Palm Wine from Cambodia "Original" |
- On the nose, it reminds me of a good saké. Which does
not really make sense, right? it smells a bit like rice, with some flower
hints, aromas were quite gentle and soft.
- On the palate, it is sweet but also surprisingly a bit
sour. I still have that “rice” kind of taste, combined with a bit of
fruitiness. Quite enjoyable but not a WOW effect.
For a more feminine touch, try the pineapple palm
wine. Nice color, the sweetness is coming from the natural maceration of the
fruit in the fermented sap.
Drink it very fresh, in any case!
Inject bubbles into a Palm wine, put it in a cool beer-shaped bottle, and sip it by the river.. easy to drink, and 100% local.
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| the very cool "Mekong Sparkling Wine" |
So, is Palm wine, wine?
Well, Palm wine is Palm wine, that, for sure. It is
natural, it comes from local resources, requires a good know-how, involves a
lot of farmers, develop new marketing concepts (aromatic wine, sparkling, new
packaging etc.) and matches Cambodian food quite well.
So I definitely encourage people to try it here (or in
Africa where the production of Palm wine is very big)
Besides, in terms of carbon footprint, it’s good to
drink local once in a while!
Nobody is asking you to give up your good bottle of
Chateauneuf du Pape! but if you could drink AND help the local community at the same time, can’t you
make a little effort, for once??
A big Thank you to Priscilla from
Confirel (http://www.confirel.com) for
all her explanations and for the visit.
Other source: http://www.cambodiauncovered.com/cambodia/palmtrees.html
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