Uncorking the Pinay

For the next two pieces, Hanna assigned me to cover a wine-tasting event at Pacific Place, Ortigas featuring Filipina winemaker, Tondi Navarrete-Bolkan. This is my first wine tasting ever! Who am I to talk about wines, or even write how I think of them and how to enjoy them? I had to do a lot of research for my questions to be on-point. Thanks to Tondi and her family for being so hospitable.

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Uncorking the Pinay
Meet Tondi Navarrete-Bolkan, a Filipina winemaker from the Francis Ford Coppola Winery whose mission is to uncork the Filipino’s love for wine.

Lechon, pansit, cheese, crackers and cold cuts; a serenade of love songs; friends and family abound—a classic picture of a Filipino get-together. In this feast, the centerpiece are six fine wines vintaged in Napa Valley and Sonoma, California by Tondi Navarrete-Bolkan, a Filipina associate winemaker of the Francis Ford Coppola Winery and part-owner of Alejos Cellars.

The gathering is a wine tasting for Tondi’s wine creations which includes the Pinay Muscato (white), Tondi Bolkan Merlot (red) and Pinay Pastel (port-style wine), flagship wines of the Alejos Cellars; and Francis Ford Coppola Winery concoctions including Coppola’s Diamond Series Claret (red), Su Yuen (Riesling) and Sofia (a sparkling wine named after Sofia Coppola).

“My mom is my inspiration for the Pinay. I was mortified to see her drinking the Rubicon, a 145-dollar bottle of wine, and topping it with Maraschino cherries to adjust its sweetness. I promised her I’d make her a sweet wine.”

With a degree on Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior from UC Davis California, Tondi initially planned to take up medicine to follow her father and sister’s path. “During my senior year in college, I had my internship at the University Medical Center. Once I saw blood, I immediately passed out.” Luckily UC Davis is also known for viniculture and grape growing. She turned to her true passion and studied winemaking, and since 2001 has been working at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Napa Valley known as the Rubicon Estate.

“My family was surprised because they wanted me to be a doctor. They did not speak to me from September to November—my first harvest season. After the holidays, I sent them a case of my first wine, and they knew they have a winemaker in the family.”


Much was her family’s support that they partnered with her to open Alejos Cellars to produce her own line of wines. “I am very fortunate to be part of a company that allows me to venture outside. In 2006, we started Alejos Cellars with the Pinay Muscato, followed by the merlot and then the port. It takes a lot of patience to produce wine. It is capital intensive and time consuming.”

“September to November is harvest time and it is the busiest time for all wineries. In the summertime before harvest, we're walking the vineyards, checking the grapes, making sure they will be ready at the right time.” Winemakers, like Tondi, decide when to pick. The grapes are collected and are brought into the winery where they are crushed whole with their skins and pit. “Come October, we are in the winery everyday, creating the blends, tasting daily and making sure that the color, the aromatics and the fermentation is healthy.” From November to December, wines are aged in wooden barrels up to eighteen months. By January, they are ready to be bottled and enjoyed.

“I love the wine industry because it combines so many areas of study, you have the science side—the biology is going out to the vineyards and tasting the grapes, and the chemistry is turning the grapes into wine by fermentation. The art of winemaking comes in as you blend the wines and foresee how it would age. Through years of tasting, you understand how a variety of grape develops. Then you also have business side and marketing and knowing which blends sell.”

Tondi chose to name her brand “Pinay”, slang for Filipina. “We wanted a word that grabs attention and defines what our wines are—specially inspired by the Filipino palate.” The Pinay Muscato hints of fruity scents of peaches and lychee. It is light, smooth, and as promised, sweet. She suggests pairing the Muscato with drier dishes such as crispy pata or chicken adobo. The Merlot may be served with caldereta and kare kare while the Pinay Pastel is a dessert wine that a perfect blend of sweet and spice.

For Tondi, the rewards for creating these blends are doubly wonderful. “I've been getting emails and phone calls about Pinay, and the excitement and enthusiasm from my customer's voices is very inspiring. They say the word Pinay and they hold up a bottle.”

In the future Tondi hopes to grow her brand into other varieties like Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Chenin Blanc.

“I will continue to carry the name Pinay. It pays tribute to my culture and it makes the connection between the customer and me, and makes the connection between the customer and who we are—Filipinos.”


For more information, visit
www.alejos-cellars.com