Sagada Wine Night

You know how when you’re told not to do something  you itch to do just that? With this pregnancy I’ve been repeatedly told not to do and/or eat stuff that I’ve taken for granted back when I wasn’t pregrant and now I am craving for them!

One thing I didn’t think I’d miss is wine. No, I’m not really a wine connoisseur nor did I frequently drink wine pre-pregnancy but I’ve always liked the idea that I can just get a glass of it when I wanted to. I like having the option, you know? This craving actually makes me think back to a night when my friends and I downed a whole clay jar of wine and more! Yes, clay jar as in banga talaga! This is a good kwento.

We were in Mountain Province around this time last year for a project where we had to go around talking to and taking photos of random people. It was a blissful project! We went to Tinglayan first and then we traveled to Sagada to continue looking for subjects there for a few days. I knowwwrrrr, ang saya diba?

After days of exploring the place, we finally had enough photos and so we decided to spend our last night there without the camera and the clipboard that we’ve (mostly just Gelo and Don) been lugging around for the past week. It was, after all, our last dinner there and we just wanted to enjoy the meal and each other’s company. By this time ang daming taong nagdagsaan kasi it was a Friday night and fiesta pala doon that Saturday. Feeling nga namin na-break ang “spell” ng Sagada somehow. We liked it better when there were just a few tourists roaming around the magical town.

This is the gang!
L-R Me, our efficient Project Manager Ice, our wonderful client, Gelo,
and Direk/Photographer Don

This is the aforementioned clipboard. We, well mostly Gelo, carried
this around with him to wherever we went.
Kahit sa gitna pa ng palayan hahaha! 

Eto na, whilen the four of us were walking to the resto of our choice, we passed by a couple of middle-aged ladies selling wine by the shot. The wine was inside this banga and they were selling it at P20 for half a shot and P40 for a shot! Nice! We haven’t had dinner yet at the time so we promised to come back after. Eh ang tagal nung serving time ng food! Nagugutom na kami at naiinip kasi we were worrying na baka umalis na yung nagtitinda ng wine!! Yun talaga ang worry namin hahaha!

After dinner, which only lasted for 20mins but the waiting time was an hour kasi nga ang daming utaw, we hurried back to the Wine Ladies, that’s what I called them in my head anyway, hoping that they were still there! Buti na lang andun pa. So we each got half a shot muna. You know, pa-sweet muna, nakakahiya naman kung isang shot agad diba? We also wanted to get a taste of it first. Eh ang sarap!! So one more syempre. This time pati sina tita binilhan namin ng tig-iisang shot (P40 lang diba? Magpaka galante na, why not?). It was sweet and just perfect for the cold night.

Tuwang-tuwa naman sila sa amin, at dahil nga bihasa kami sa mga interviews ganyan, we asked them about the wine; who their supplier was, what are in it, etc. We found out that they actually made the wine. Aliw! It was called the Wild Berries Wine, I think. But it’s more popularly knows as Bugnay wine. Its main ingredient is wild berry but that's about what I can remember. I didn’t plan on blogging at the time kaya kulang ang info ko. Huhu!

Anyway, one of the ladies’ husband, a chemist named Egbert Dailay was the one who made the wine. He invited us into his “lab” seeing how enthused we were about their product. We went down to this cool hut made of recycled materials and it was super awesome! At this time we were kicking ourselves for not having our camera handy. It was kind of dark down there so photos from our phones just wouldn’t cut it. Hahy. I guess the best moments really can’t be captured on camera. Sir Egbert filled us in about the process, and you can see how passionate he is about what he does. I wouldn’t try to relay the whole procedure here because I won’t be able to tell it the way he does. He made chemistry sound sexy!

After that, we went back up into the side of the street drinking our wine. After we finish a couple of shots I was like, "One more round! On me!" Hahahaha! And then our PM followed suit and treated us to another round, by this time nagtatawanan na kami at close na kami nina Tita. At some point we called out to the passersby urging them to get each a shot for themselves! Dedma kung foreigners, mga Pinoy, or Sagada locals. Para kaming mga naging instant Push Girl and Boys (you know those people at grocery stores offering products to customers?) hahaha! At marami-rami din ang na-engganyo namin actually. Hanggang sa nagulat na lang kami naubos na ang laman nung banga! Nakakaloka!

We ended up buying a couple of bottles “for the road” hahaha! We wrapped the sesh up in our hotel room later that evening. Don’t worry, mababa lang ang alcohol content per bottle so we didn’t really get drunk. We are responsible adults naman. I think we are just a bunch of innately giddy and naturally crazy people talaga! I remember that when we were heading back, we could barely walk straight but not because we were drunk but because we were laughing so hard! Hahaha! Just thinking back on it now makes me laugh!

We slept soundly that night and thankfully with no hangover the following morning. I think that night was one of the most fun and unforgettable. Masarap yung wine, masarap kasama yung mga kaibigan ko, masarap kausap yung mga bago naming nakilala. Couldn’t have had a better last night in Sagada. In a way, it was like one of my last hurrahs as a single lady hihi!

When you go up there, just look for the Wild Berries Wine, it’s a small town so I'm sure you’ll find it. When you walk towards the Lemon Pie House, it’s before you get there but to the left side. There are no landmarks kasi they just put up a small table with the banga of wine on it during nights but they have a tarp right outside their house which is hard to miss and since it’s a town where everyone knows about everyone, maybe you can ask around. I hope you’ll have as great and fun an experience as we did!

Meanwhile, I have to go and get myself a glass of milk. Not as tasty but the boss baby needs it and she comes first now, you know. *wink*

Note: There is one photo we took with us around the wine jar but I couldn't find it anymore :( :( Will continue looking for it so I can post it here soon!