Just four months were enough for Freddy Rojas Thomas, a scientist at the Finlay Institute of Vaccines, to produce high quality wines and qualify to present them and compete at the 5th National Festival of Winemakers of Cuba, to be held in the central province of Cienfuegos, next February 2024.

Graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Industrial Pharmacy, according to the name of the university degree), he told Prensa Latina that he presented his beverages in a special tasting held in Havana to select the best ones to be presented in the future contest and three of them were chosen.

He specified that he started in the wine production universe last September, and this became a kind of hobby because, he said, he always felt attracted by this exquisite and millenary product, in addition to the fact that he wanted to conceive something different from the medicines he creates and develops every day in the prestigious scientific center where he works.

Rojas Thomas said that he began to watch videos and read articles on the Internet related to wine production, and since he constantly works with fermentation and always felt passion for this beverage, he decided to explore at home with this type of liquor.

From the grape harvest to the final bottling, there are several types of fermentation in wines and the winemaking process consists of a delicate science that uses both natural and artificial yeasts to transform part of the sugars in the must into alcohol, the specialist pointed out.

First, he said, he tried with some grapes he bought and then with several fruits, and he started first processing that raw material and creating one liter, and then gave way to two or three more, which resulted in the first bottles he presented at the tasting contest in the city, held last November 25.

The 38-year-old entrepeneur said that the wine that most attracted the jury of the city contest and qualified for the national one was the grape wine, with which he elaborated a red wine, as well as another one of coconut, which, although it did not obtain a prize, was the most impressive for the experts.

At present, the specialist said, he also works with fruits such as orange, lemon, tangerine and Chinese plum, as well as with banana and sugar cane, and he only made the fermentation in about 20 liter bottles, with which he can create 20 to 23 bottles of wine.

He said that his business is still in the development stage, so it does not yet have a sufficiently extensive and strong production to respond to a high production and marketing demand.

mh/ro/rfc