I didn’t know about the fertile Neiba area in the Dominican Republic (close to Lake Enriquillo), which produces several wines, including reds, whites, and rosés—now I am curious to try some of these and to learn more about the region. According to The Free Library, local brands include “Ney Rose, a blend of the aramon vine that originally came from Spain and a French aramon vine grape; Ney Blanco comes from French colombard blended with fiano and vermentino; and Ribera de Panzo, a red wine, is produced from tempranillo and cabernet varieties.” Apparently, in a recent meeting of the National Grape Institute, executives criticized Dominican procrastination as one of the obstacles for increased wine production. Here are excerpts from “Dominican Republic can make better wine ‘mañana’”:

The possibilities of expanding crops, producing better wines and the Dominicans’ procrastination as a stumbling block were in a meeting with executives of the National Grape Institute (INUVA), representatives of the Ocoa Bay wine tourism project and the heads of associations linked to the Neyba Wine Valley, in western Bahoruco province.

In the meeting held in the INUVA, Ocoa Bay project president Gabriel Acevedo stressed the sector’s potential while detailing the scope of the project dedicated to enological tourism and discussed agreements to develop the sector.

He said compared with countries which have four seasons, Dominican Republic has the advantage of 12 months of summer, which in terms of production is a potential that allows two harvests per year. “We live with a full summer that allows us to harvest twice a year, that’s an advantage that gives us a unique status in the world, the downside is that we leave everything for tomorrow which also urges a change of mentality,” the wine expert said.

For original article, see http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2015/1/19/53965/Dominican-Republic-can-make-better-wine-manana

Photo above from http://www.viajesyvinos.com/Viajes_vinos_29abril2009_files_files.htm