Sababay at Gianyar

In a small town named Saba, by the bay, in the Gianyar region of Bali, lies Indonesia’s winery named Sababay and it has quite a success story.

The story starts in 2009 when the founder discovered that in the northernmost town of Singaraja in Indonesia’s Bali Island, the farmers were only getting about 3 cents per kilo of grapes that they produced.

Already a businesswoman, Mulyati, the founder of Sababay, struck a deal to buy all the farmers’ grapes for between 10 to 15,000 Indonesian rupiah per kilogram, a 20-30 fold increase in price offer to the farmers.

This is one of the most compact wineries I have seen. Because the vineyards are all located at about a four hours’ distance at the north coast of the Bali island, the grapes are transported to Gianyar by an air conditioned vehicle.

In Gianyar, they are de-stemmed, crushed, fermented, then aged in steel fermentation tanks. Their viniculture techniques are different as there is no winter in Indonesia. The aging process runs for 3 to 8 months.

Between the 50 steel tanks, ranging from 10 to 20k liters capacity, the winery makes half a million bottles which are consumed in Indonesia and exported to southeast Asian countries like Japan.

Seems like the direction the winery is taking is pretty creative and fresh. They have won many awards as seen by their wall of accolades. They even got permission from the Vatican in 2019 to make the special sacramental wines.

Moreover, the business is also sustainable, they return the grape stems, skin and seeds to the farmers to compost and use in their farms.

Besides table wines, they now offer sparkling wines and spirits like port, vodka and grappa. Sababay also has coffee liqueur, and in addition, a new line of products for pre-made sangrias.

The $16 tasting fee includes the tour of the winery for an hour followed by tasting of three wines, all of which were delicious - the red velvet, ascaro sparkling and the white magnolia along with a bowl of cassava chips.

The wine tasting also provides for a full menu of delicious Indonesian food which can be paired with any of their over 17 wines. Many wine bottles have wine pairing ideas and tips to pair with traditional Indonesian dishes.

This winery is worth a visit, you can easily spend 3 to 4 hours enjoying the wine and food while unwinding in their wood paneled testing room or outside in the delightful garden.