The production of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

is reported to have first been attempted in the 1990s, with the introduction of an experimental vineyard at Paro () near

Thimpu Thimphu (; dz, ཐིམ་ཕུག ) is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's ''dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city ...

, the capital of

. Australian wine company, Taltarni, is believed to have provided technical help, but it is not known whether any wine was successfully produced. On April 2, 2019, the US-based Bhutan Wine Company, in partnership with Bhutanese collaborators, planted the first fine wine vineyard in Bhutan: the Yusipang Vineyard. The first vine in the ground was Merlot. On April 4, 2019, the Bhutan Wine Company planted a second small vineyard: the Bajo Vineyard. Varietals included Merlot, Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc,

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are n ...

, and

Petit Manseng Petit Manseng (sometimes translated: Small Manseng, rarely "Little Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France. It produces the highest quality wine of any grape in the Manseng family. The name is deriv ...

. All vines came from Sunridge Nurseries in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. April 810, 2019, the Bhutan Wine Company planted the Kingdom's third and fourth vineyards in Paro and Lingmethang. As of May 11, 2019, an additional 2 acres had been cleared and planted at these initial vineyard sites.

References

See also