DR: Caribbean's First Major Vineyard

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,069
6,216
113
South Coast
We've talked about this before, but this is a new article. Click on the link to see photos of the wine bottles.

I also added links to prior threads about this.

The Caribbean?s First Major Vineyard. Yes ? Wine From the Caribbean
December 7th, 2015 | 11:23 pm

Wine? From the Caribbean?

And no, we don?t mean tropical fruit wine, from mangos or ?ginger wine? from Jamaica.

We mean wine ? from actual grapes. Made in the Caribbean.

While the Caribbean?s rainy climate has often posed an insurmountable challenge for would-be vintners (along with the fact that very few have ever tried it) a project that launched seven years ago in the Dominican Republic has pulled it off.

The project is called Ocoa Bay, and it?s a broad luxury development in on the southern central coast of the Dominican Republic.

And they?ve done it ? produced real, drinkable, rather good wine, with help from wine consultants from South America.

But how? Grapes need dryness, sunshine and enough cooling, and just the right amounts of each.

Well, the microclimate between the mountains and the sea in Azua is wine-friendly; it?s exceedingly dry for the region, with just 600cc of rain each year.

And they?re using the right grapes: for example, Colombard, a white French wine grape that grows well in this area because it has time to mature on the long sunny days.

So is this really the Caribbean?s first wine? Not exactly, but it?s the first major wine project, and the Caribbean?s first wine-tourism project.

And, plainly, it?s the first major winemaking project, one that would be at home in Europe, both in design, quality and planned clientele.

ndeed, there are other wine-making projects in the Caribbean: in Curacao is launching its first wines this year with grapes grown on that island, and a small wine-making operation in St John also has its official release in the pipeline, although the latter isn?t growing its own grapes in the USVI.

That?s without mentioning Cuba, which actually has the Caribbean?s oldest wine-making operation, with more than a decade since the launch of Bodegas del Caribe, which launched at the turn of the century. It?s joined by another hard-to-find wine, Bodegas San Cristobal, the product of an Italo-Cuban partnership.

But wine-making actually happened in Azua half a millennium ago, when Hernan Cortes came to the area in 1504 and grew vines and, according to legend, made wine.

So what?s the verdict?

We tasted a bottle of the white Colombard.

It?s got an aroma of citrus, tropical fruit and oak, with a flavor profile of mango, dried fruit and citrus.

It?s a medium-bodied white wine with a good, crisp finish.

If you didn?t know, you?d never guess this was a wine from outside the world?s traditional winemaking spots. And it?s actually quite good, perfect for a hot day on the beach in the Dominican Republic.

So what?s next?

After $24 million in investment by three couples, Ocoa Bay has a working vineyard, a restaurant, a wine tasting room, an amphitheater, a bar-lounge, an infinity pool and agricultural facilities.

The next step is to build villas, each of which would have access to its own portion of the vineyard (and its own wine stock).

The company also tells Caribbean Journal that it?s looking for an equity development partner for a branded resort or a fractional ownership site.

Either way, they?ve done something rather special in the southern Dominican Republic.

http://caribjournal.com/2015/12/07/the-caribbeans-first-major-vineyard-yes-wine-from-the-caribbean/#

Some prior wine threads:
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/150086-Dominican-Wine-Country
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/137025-Wine-Tourism
http://dr1.com/travelnews/archive/2015/tnews040715.html
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/36196-dominican-wine
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/121054-Wineries-in-the-Dominican-Republic/page3

Ocoa Bay website: http://www.ocoabay.us/
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
We've talked about this before, but this is a new article. Click on the link to see photos of the wine bottles.

I also added links to prior threads about this.

The Caribbean?s First Major Vineyard. Yes ? Wine From the Caribbean
December 7th, 2015 | 11:23 pm

Wine? From the Caribbean?

And no, we don?t mean tropical fruit wine, from mangos or ?ginger wine? from Jamaica.

We mean wine ? from actual grapes. Made in the Caribbean.

While the Caribbean?s rainy climate has often posed an insurmountable challenge for would-be vintners (along with the fact that very few have ever tried it) a project that launched seven years ago in the Dominican Republic has pulled it off.

The project is called Ocoa Bay, and it?s a broad luxury development in on the southern central coast of the Dominican Republic.

And they?ve done it ? produced real, drinkable, rather good wine, with help from wine consultants from South America.

But how? Grapes need dryness, sunshine and enough cooling, and just the right amounts of each.

Well, the microclimate between the mountains and the sea in Azua is wine-friendly; it?s exceedingly dry for the region, with just 600cc of rain each year.

And they?re using the right grapes: for example, Colombard, a white French wine grape that grows well in this area because it has time to mature on the long sunny days.

So is this really the Caribbean?s first wine? Not exactly, but it?s the first major wine project, and the Caribbean?s first wine-tourism project.

And, plainly, it?s the first major winemaking project, one that would be at home in Europe, both in design, quality and planned clientele.

ndeed, there are other wine-making projects in the Caribbean: in Curacao is launching its first wines this year with grapes grown on that island, and a small wine-making operation in St John also has its official release in the pipeline, although the latter isn?t growing its own grapes in the USVI.

That?s without mentioning Cuba, which actually has the Caribbean?s oldest wine-making operation, with more than a decade since the launch of Bodegas del Caribe, which launched at the turn of the century. It?s joined by another hard-to-find wine, Bodegas San Cristobal, the product of an Italo-Cuban partnership.

But wine-making actually happened in Azua half a millennium ago, when Hernan Cortes came to the area in 1504 and grew vines and, according to legend, made wine.

So what?s the verdict?

We tasted a bottle of the white Colombard.

It?s got an aroma of citrus, tropical fruit and oak, with a flavor profile of mango, dried fruit and citrus.

It?s a medium-bodied white wine with a good, crisp finish.

If you didn?t know, you?d never guess this was a wine from outside the world?s traditional winemaking spots. And it?s actually quite good, perfect for a hot day on the beach in the Dominican Republic.

So what?s next?

After $24 million in investment by three couples, Ocoa Bay has a working vineyard, a restaurant, a wine tasting room, an amphitheater, a bar-lounge, an infinity pool and agricultural facilities.

The next step is to build villas, each of which would have access to its own portion of the vineyard (and its own wine stock).

The company also tells Caribbean Journal that it?s looking for an equity development partner for a branded resort or a fractional ownership site.

Either way, they?ve done something rather special in the southern Dominican Republic.

http://caribjournal.com/2015/12/07/the-caribbeans-first-major-vineyard-yes-wine-from-the-caribbean/#

Some prior wine threads:
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/150086-Dominican-Wine-Country
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/137025-Wine-Tourism
http://dr1.com/travelnews/archive/2015/tnews040715.html
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/36196-dominican-wine
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/121054-Wineries-in-the-Dominican-Republic/page3

Ocoa Bay website: http://www.ocoabay.us/

This is a huge step for the DR and another tourist destination for scenery and wine tasting. Bravo y Salude
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,069
6,216
113
South Coast
I REALLLLLLY recommend you come down Duarte onto 2. Hwy 2 is a fast and easy run westward, 2 lanes each direction, newly finished. Unless it's changed since May, you do have to make a couple of turns in Bani, but there are signs [highway ends, you drive through Bani around the park, then back onto a highway].
 

drstock

Silver
Oct 29, 2010
4,493
2,080
113
Cabarete
How is the road if you start from the north coast and head to Ocoa Bay? How are the roads labelled 201, 41 and 2 along the way?

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Cab...344fe77be9a6fe!2m2!1d-70.5630398!2d18.3577026

I wouldn't recommend using Route 201. I did it recently and it was quite a nightmare. It's in the process of reconstruction and you will find you are sharing the unmade road with hundreds of construction vehicles with long delays while you wait for vehicles to pass the other way. I would use the road through Constanza instead if you want to go that way. I believe it's unmade too but supposed to be quite beautiful. Route 41 from Sabana Larga south has been rebuilt and is excellent.
 
Last edited:

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
It sounds like this could be the new place to explore in the DR. Wine tours and eco tourism go hand in hand.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,328
113
If you look at the lot/villa sales website you'll see they are promoting just that.

Property owners even get a share in the vineyard's yield - twice a year you get cases of wine as part of your ownership.

To get the double yield, they cut the vines back hard to imitate a winter.....
The actual 'cut off' line (latitudinally) for wine production is closer to POP
 

chic

Silver
Nov 20, 2013
4,305
1
0
and here i was looking for investors....years ago i knew it would work,,, imagine wine tourism wow what a turn on...holy grapes or holy something
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,087
5,914
113
and here i was looking for investors....years ago i knew it would work,,, imagine wine tourism wow what a turn on...holy grapes or holy something

There you go. Start your own winery and focus on communion wine.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,314
3,121
113
[video=youtube;Pri0l_lycJw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pri0l_lycJw[/video]

FYI, the first wineries established in the Western Hemisphere initially were there in the Azua region. For whatever reason it didn't last through the centuries as did other wineries that the Spanish established in Mexico and in a few places in South America. Ocoa Bay is sort of coming full circle by creating a winery where some five centuries ago a few Spaniards planted the very first grape plants in America. The extra twist is that they have an additional touristic focus, but I think it will be popular with Dominican tourists, especially those that like having vacation homes in interesting gated communities.

Hopefully a golf course is created in the Dominican desert with cactuses and acacias as part of the flora. I don't know why no one ever thought about that. The DR has the scenery to have Arizona-esque golf courses.

In combination with Puntarenas that Rainieri is developing in Ban? and there might be quite a touristic synergy between the two projects.
 
Last edited:

Meemselle

Just A Few Words
Oct 27, 2014
2,841
383
83
Sorry: grammar/spelling bitch. I cannot continue until this is corrected.

It's "vineyard." Please add the "e."

Over & out.


Meemselle, former English major
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
5,808
946
113
Sorry: grammar/spelling bitch. I cannot continue until this is corrected.

It's "vineyard." Please add the "e."

Over & out.


Meemselle, former English major

Tank ku four tea speling lasson, eye wil allways remembur tis!

Oven & Ouch.