Growing up with Basi Wine (San Vicente, Ilocos Sur)

Growing up with Basi Wine (San Vicente, Ilocos Sur)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Product quality meets European Standards for Port
and Sherry as evaluated by Food Development Center
and the Department of Science and Technology.*

Glazed earthen jars are thoroughly washed and sterilized
before filling them with sugarcane juice and botanical
ingredients which will be brewed and aged for two or more years.

Each bottle has a label depicting a significant
event or place about the Ilocos Region, basi
being indigenous to the region.

I grew up with an age old local industry – basi wine making. At home there are still 18th century jars which I use to make basi in the same way my ancestors made this unique table wine for generations.

I remember Lolo Cilling (Marcelino) made basi in the cellar at the lower part of the house made of thick brick wall.  Dad took over and increased the number of jars to a hundred or so. He was one of the principal brewers in town in post Commonwealth era - and probably after the infamous Basi Revolt in 1807 when the Ilocanos took arms but lost to the Spanish government who declared monopoly over the industry. Many were killed in that short-lived revolt along the Bantaoay River, a walking distance away from home where my brother Eugene and I used to catchpurong(mullet) with hook and line in summer in our boyhood days.

As a farmhand even before I went to school, father always warned me not to be an aliwegweg (curious at doing a sort of things), the experimenter that I was. One morning as dad went on his routine, first to hear mass in our parish church just across our residential farm, I went to the cellar with a sumpit (small bamboo tube) to take a sip of the sweet day-old fermenting sugarcane juice. I didn't know that with a sip too many one can get get drunk. 

And that was precisely what made me feel sick but of course, I did'nt tell dad. He called a doctor to find out what was the matter with me. When the doctor arrived he found me normal. What with the distance from Vigan to San Vicente - on a caleza (horse-drawn carriage)? It would take about a couple of hours.  But the doctor was whispering something to dad.

Then it happened. Dad had left for the church, so I thought. I went to the cellar and as soon as I probed the sumpit into a newly fermenting jar and took a sip, someone tapped my shoulder in the dark. lt was dad!

Imagine the expression of his face as I saw it in the dark. I sobbed with embarrassment while he took a deep sigh of relief. Since then the doctor never came again. And I never tasted my “beverage" again.

Years passed. I left home for my studies in Manila. So with my brother and sister. Dad continued the industry until he became very old. By then the demand for the local drink declined as beer and all kinds of wine and liquor began flooding the market. It was requiem to a sunset industry. In 1981, dad died, so with our home industry.

After I retired from government service, I tried to find out if I inherited the "green thumb in wine making." Sure enough after a few years of experimentation I was able to improve the product and even tap the market, catering mainly to tourists and Ilocano balikbayan. Whenever I open a jar and harvest the golden wine, I remember dad standing nearby. This time he is telling me, "Keep it up, son." ~

Back Label: Philippine History – The Basi Revolt of 1807
The revolt erupted 400 km north of Manila, where Diego and Gabriela Silang fought heroically against Spanish rule 50 years earlier. The cause: Declaration of Wine Monopoly by the Spanish government virtually taking from the hands of local brewers an industry the Ilocos region had long enjoyed even before Spain colonized the islands. For centuries basi was an important item of commerce among Asian neighbors, and later with the Galleon Trade (1565-1815) plying Ciudad Fernandina (now Vigan City) and Europe via Acapulco, Mexico. The final battle took place along Bantaoay River with scores of Spanish soldiers and natives killed. On September 29, 1807 the captured rebels were executed. Artist Don Esteban Villanueva, an eyewitness recorded the historic event in 14 big paintings, now seen at the Vigan Ayala Museum at the original residence of priest martyr, Fr. Jose Burgos. This bottle is a tribute to the heroes of the Basi Revolt and their descendants. Today basi stands among the finest wines of the world. 
------------------
* Product Guarantee: Basi is brewed and aged in glazed jars (burnay. It is made from sugarcane, rice, and botanical ingredients - Pithecolobium dulce, Macaranga tanarius and Syzigium cumini. No flavoring and coloring added; no filter and plastic container used. This product meets the European Standard for Champagne, Port and Sherry. (Reference: PFDCS 2498 & PFDCS 9429, Food Development Center, National Food Authority.) Approximately 21 proof. (Ref: 01-00-0CL-0017, ITDI, Department of Science and Technology.) A product of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. Content: 750 ml/375 ml.

Part 2 - A visit to an 18th century Basi wine cellar 

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

 

Original basi wine cellar and jars (burnay) date back to the

 18th century across six generations of continuous operation, 

interrupted only by the Second World War for five years. 

 

The cellar attracts researchers, students and tourists for its historical 

significance with the Spanish Galleon Trade, and technology of 

the old folks in making basi and its related products, principally 

vinegar (sukang Iloko).  

By now this jar of basi is 13 years old.  Unless opened, it remains longer 

in aging. The general rule is, the longer wine is aged, the more mellow it 

becomes.  It's not really so.  There are other factors to consider like 

damaged clay cap and leaching.  And there's the basic rule that "only 

good wine mellows with age" (So with man, they add.) 

Crystalline golden color and pleasant wine aroma meet the happy

connoisseur after the desired aging period is reached (at least two 

years in the case of Rotor basi). Fresh and direct from the jar, the 

harvest is bottled, sealed and labelled (as shown below), according

 to customers' specifications intended for an occasion like

 wedding, Christmas, exhibit, and the like. 

 

House guest picks a fruit wine of his choice,  Fruit wine making 

follows the basic fermentation-aging process in basi making.

There are 20 kinds of fruit wine developed in this cellar from different 

fruits growing locally like macopa, aratiles, duhat and guyabano. 

Stamp commemorating the Galleon Trade. 

Scene of a Galleon trading post in Ciudad de Vigan in Spanish time. 

"The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade* in the 18th century was undertaken by Vigan Chinese mestizo traders who exported local products such as basi, tobacco and abel to Europe and other parts of Asia..." Pia Roces Morato, Thorns and Roses

                                      * Manila-Acapulco galleon trade 1565–1815

                                

Basi jar lying on the sea floor where a galleon ship was wrecked. 

Basi sparked one of the major revolts against Spanish rule by the natives when wine monopoly was declared by the government. This meant virtually taking the industry from the hands of the natives. The short-lived uprising took place in Ilocos, with the final battle fought on both sides of the Bantaoay River which runs through the towns of San Vicente up to San Ildefonso, which are today the major suppliers of Basi principally to tourists in Vigan, UNESCO's world heritage city, and one of the cultural wonders of the world.

 * Lesson on Living with Nature - School on Blog

former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM, [www.pbs.gov.ph] 8-9 evening class Monday to Friday                              

Historic Paintings of the Basi Revolt of 1807 by Esteban Villanueva

Historic Paintings of the Basi Revolt of 1807 by Esteban Villanueva

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature - School on Blog

 The Basi Revolt took place in the Ilocos Region to protest Wine Monopoly imposed by the Spanish government upon the makers of this prized wine once exported through the Galleon Trade plying Ciudad Fernandina (now Vigan City) and Europe via Acapulco, Mexico (1565-1815). 

 Scores of Spanish soldiers and Filipinos were killed in a series of battles, but the revolt ended on September 29, 1807 with the capture of its brave leaders. Fourteen big oil paintings depicting the Basi Revolt in series are displayed at the Vigan Ayala Museum located in the original residence of Filipino martyr, Fr. Jose Burgos. 

The painter, Don Esteban Villanueva was an eyewitness of this historic event. Today, the Basi Revolt lives on with the fine taste and tradition of this unique product standing among the best wines of the world.

 

Acknowledgment: Vigan Ayala Museum, National Museum, Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur, Metro Vigan city government,  National Historical Institute.  This article is a tribute to Don Esteban Villanueva, and to the the Basi industry of the Ilocos region.

 Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM, [www.pbs.gov.ph] 8-9 evening class Monday to Friday

Global Warming is creating a new Art Movement (Parts 1 and 2)

Global Warming is creating a new Art Movement (Parts 1 and 2) 

Paintings by Dr Abe V Rotor

Coral Reef Deforestation  

When the sea rises and buries the shoals and sandbars,

the sea grass and coral reef;

when the sun bears hard on the fringes of sea and land,

requiem hums eerie and grief.   

Oh, Art - what gift do you bring in suffering and lament,

but catharsis however brief. 

Mountain Desertification 

When the wind hot and dry sweeps over hills and mountains

all day long, freezing cold in the night;

and rain after a long absence brings gales and hurricanes;   

the landscape turns into a pitiful sight.  

What movement can a artist recall in the long history of art? 

too far out romanticism and classicism;

realism lost to the lens, impressionism to varied abstract art -  

welcome Dali-Miro'-Ernst surrealism.  ~

  Is it Summer or Autumn?

Global warming is destroying the orderly march of seasons, 

worst it is destroying the setting of this magnificent drama of nature.  

Neither!

Summer is when the sun is brighest

to nourish the plants into full bloom;

the fields transform green to golden, 

haystacks growing like mushroom.

Autumn is when the wind gets chilly,

birds in the sky migrate southward,

among stars and kites and fireflies,

and trees wear their brighest ward.

Neither!       

Never again will summer or autumn 

come, the march of seasons gone

where once Paradise stood proud,

prouder a rational wandering son.

  

Mutation (Mutilation) by Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering has put into man’s hands the path and nature of evolution, creating heretofore unnatural organisms leading to speciation (species formation) under the dictate of the new science.  Here,  the god in man is taking over God’s power over creation.  In this painting one can subjectively identify organisms fused into an unorderly fashion yet revealing basic identities,  

It's a riddle, shocking, senseless and cruel,

seeking answer not only to what but why;

an elephant, a hog, a bull, save your guess,

science knows no limit like the endless sky.

neither direction nor purpose, obedience 

to sacredness of creation nor of humanity.

Frankenstein's regret too late to destroy

what he created, a fiend to life's sanctity.   

It's a riddle, more than the Sphinx's threat,

the key to safe passage in ones journey;

move over robot, we may say to strangers,

yet strangers we are seen too, by many.   

Where now leads the path of evolution 
of millions of years to what all the living
are today? Move over Darwin, Mendel et al;
your time is up, it's genetic engineering!

Did man destroy Eden on purpose then?
knowledge and disobedience on one table,          

then to build and to destroy are also one;
beauty in his eyes and heart insatiable. ~     

The Art of Loafing

 Dr Abe V Rotor

 UST graduate students on a field trip, Peñablanca, Pampanga, 2010

Be like Thoreau and Darwin,

world's greatest loafers,

toying ideas that shock the world

by Civil Disobedience,

and Survival of the Fittest.

For the mind soars to the sky

by imagination more than reason,

and time is kindest

when the body stops working

and the spirit calm,

To nurture the hidden genius,

in sparks and spurts,

otherwise spilled to waste

in worries and cares,

and undue haste.

Churchill by the Thames,

painted peace,

when the sky was burning,

and thunder and bomb

were but one sound.

Audubon's birds were real

like living specimens,

with time at his command;

and Solomon halted his army

to let the ants pass in band.

Loafing, the habit and the art,

robs and rewards:

he by the hearth falls asleep

in spring; and who fishes ideas

with a fishing pole. ~

Fruiting Duhat Bonsai

Dr Abe V Rotor

This is a Filipino version of bonsai. There are also bonsai of fruiting guava (Psidium guajava) and sampaloc (Tamarindus indica), thanks to the green thumb of Filipinos. This fruiting duhat (Syzygium cumini) bonsai is as old as Anna, my daughter (photo). It was grown from seed and trained on a piece of coral reef and garden soil placed in a dish. Photo by Abe V Rotor, Pentax Spotmatic II, Takumar lens, Don Antonio Heights 2 QC

 Bonsai tree in Vietnam on transport. 

 Prized bonsai on exhinit in Makati

Vinegar - no kitchen is without

Dr Abe V Rotor

Vinegar is the most popular food conditioner – for seasoning, marinating, as spice, appetizer, and the like. Outside of the kitchen vinegar has many uses, from deodorizer to weed killer, sore throat remedy to first aid to insect bite.

Irresistible Empanada with sukang Iloko.
Plaza Burgos Vigan, Ilocos Sur

1. When boiling meat, add a spoonful of vinegar to the water to make it more tender.

2. Marinate tough meat in vinegar overnight to tenderize.

3. Pickles in natural vinegar will last longer and taste better.

4. Make butter milk. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of milk and let it stand 5 minutes to thicken.

5. Tenderize meat. Soak in vinegar overnight.

6. Cook fish and meat as paksiw.

7. Freshen vegetables. Soak wilted vegetables in a quart of cold water and a tablespoon of vinegar.

8. Deodorize the kitchen drain. Pour a cup down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and then flush with cold water.

9. Eliminate onion odor. Rub on your fingers before and after slicing.

10. Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards. Wipe with full strength vinegar.

11. Remove fruit stains from hands. Rub with vinegar.

12. Cut grease and odor on dishes. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to hot soapy water.
13. Clean a teapot. Boil a mixture of water and vinegar in the teapot. Wipe away the grime.

14. Freshen a lunchbox. Soak a piece of bread in vinegar and let it sit in the lunchbox overnight.

15. Clean the refrigerator. Wash with a solution of equal parts of water and vinegar.

16. Unclog a drain. Pour a handful of baking soda down the brain and add ½ cup of vinegar. Rinse with hot water.

17. Replace a lemon. Substitute ¼ teaspoon of vinegar for 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

18. Firm up gelatin. Add a teaspoon of vinegar for every box of gelatin used to keep those molded desserts from sagging in the summer heat.

19. Boil better eggs. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegars of vinegar to each quart of water before boiling eggs, keeps them from cracking.

20. Prepare fluffier rice. Add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water when it boils.

21. Make wine-vinegar. Mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar with 1 tablespoon of dry red wine.

22. Debug fresh vegetables. Wash leafy greens in water with vinegar and salt. Bugs floats off.

23. Sour fruits with vinegar. Try eating young tamarind with vinegar and salt, so with santol.

24. Scale fish more easily. Rub with vinegar 5 minutes before scaling.

25. Pickle green papaya, add carrot, onion, garlic and pepper.

26. Prevent discoloration of peeled potatoes by adding a few drops of vinegar in water. They will keep fresh for days in the refrigerator.

27. Clean jars with vinegar and water to remove odor.Clean and deodorize jars. Rinse mayonnaise, peanut butter, and mustard jars with vinegar when empty.

28. Mix some vinegar with salt. It will clean dishes, pots, glasses, windows, brass, copper, bronze, pans. Skillets. Rinse well with warm water,

29. Wipe jars of preserves and canned food with vinegar to prevent mold producing bacteria.Clean stainless steel. Wipe with a vinegar dampened cloth.

30. Get rid of cooking smells. Let simmer a small pot of vinegar and water solution.

31. Clean china and fine glassware. Add a cup pf vinegar to a sink of warm water. Gently dip the glass or china in the solution and let dry.

32. Get stains out of pots. Fill pot with a solution of 3 tablespoons of vinegar to a pint of water. Boil until stain loosens and can be washed away.

33. Remove the lime deposits. Add vinegar to warm water and soak tea kettle overnight. This will also work on glass coffee pot. Put three ounces of vinegar in the pot and fill rest with warm water.