With my colleagues from The Ilocandia Photographic Society (TIPS), we truly had a different kind of wine experience in Adams. Just imagine that early in the morning we started drinking rice wine when we visited the winery of Lola Ingga. An elderly woman clad in a traditional wear. She had been into winemaking for over 40 years. She explained to us the procedure of making, fermenting and refining tapuey or rice wine. She mentioned that freshly cooked rice is being used. Dry it in a bilao then transferred to a banana leaf then to an earthenware jar. She has many of this to ferment rice wine. She basically mixed the rice with yeast. She put in a cylindrical bamboo tube to separate the liquid from the rice which is easy to scoop from after its fermentation. The jar has to be sealed thoroughly and shall not be opened to ensure proper fermentation.

The different ethnic tribes of Adams such as the Bago, Imallod, Kankanaey, Yapayao and Ilocano have engaged into winemaking. Practically all households make wine for their own consumption, for their guests to try or for business. Because of abundance of materials such as the wide variety of fruits seen in the town, they simply considered and turned these into fruit wines. I was amazed to find out that all kinds of fruits can be made into wine.

This wine tasting is one great activity that travelers and guests to Adams should not forget to try. Kampai and gan bei!