Asia Insight Season 6 Episode 22 Enriching Local Lives through Winemaking 2017
Economic growth in Myanmar has seen wine become popular with the country's younger generation. One of its major wineries sits in the highlands of the Shan state in northeast Myanmar. It's founder, German entrepreneur Bert Morsbach, worked with local residents and spent 5 years making the country's first domestically-produced wine. The biggest challenge was finding grape varieties that could survive the six-month monsoon season. They imported 13,000 young grapevines of over 30 varieties from Europe and conducted repeated cultivation tests. Today the winery produces 400,000 bottles a year. Over a hundred locals work at the winery and vineyard, which provides them with a stable income. We will explore the winding and difficult path taken by the pioneers who produced Myanmar's first wine.
