But Kharkongor stills feels that the state government should promote wine-making and declare it as a cottage industry.

“The state government should delink the excise duty to promote home wine-making so that the wine made from local fruits can be exported without any excise duty. A lot of young people are making wine these days and even my grandchildren are taught to make wine. This can also improve the economy of the state,” said Kharkongor.

Rebecca Khonglah, who took up wine-making six years ago, vouched for the local-ness of the wines. “We are making wine purely from the local fruits,” said Khonglah.

Wine made from banana brought from Arunachal Pradesh was another attraction. For visitors, the Shillong Wine Festival is popular for its “method”.

“First you taste the wine free of cost and if you are interested, you can buy the same,” said a visitor who bought three bottles of sohiong wine. The bottles were priced between Rs 200 to Rs 250.

The UPS of the festival, said Michael Syiem, president of Forever Young Club, was that all the wine was made from “surplus fruit”.

“We see a lot of fruits wasted, especially in rural areas where they grow in abundance. In this context, the wine festival is a forum to exhibit and sell home-made wine made from surplus local fruits,” said Syiem.

The Forever Young Club now wants the Meghalaya government to help the home wine makers by giving them licence so that their products can be exported commercially.

The state government is not taking any initiative to promote wine made from indigenous fruits, despite its huge potential, he said.

With the government harping on the Look East Policy, wine makers should be able to export their products to neighbouring countries provided they get adequate assistance, Syiem added.