Hnahlan with its potential vineyards is an important stopby in the region for anyone who visits the bustling commercial district of Champhai bordering Myanmar interested in vineyard tours and emerging wineries to sample some of the best locally brewed grape wine.
It is a small village located in the R. D. Block of Champhai famous for its production of grapes and grape wine locally called Zawlaidi, meaning “Love Potion”. It is the only state district in Northeast India that grows grapes in a commercial dimension for brewing wine given its favorable altitude and cool climate.
About 80 per cent of the families at Hnahlan are grape growers. Owing to this, it has become one of the most well-to-do villages in Mizoram and is aspiring to be the largest grape producer in India. Grape growers of Hnahlan village in Mizoram earn about INR 150 lakhs annually. Tax cuts on grape wine has helped boost Zawlaidi sales to a large extent.
Of the total 560 families in Hnahlan village, around 400 families are grape growers. Members of the Hnahlan Grape Growers’ Society are unable to market their high produce (6600 quintals or more per year) owing to a small winery and irregular power supply. They look forward to the government to upgrade the winery and help them up their market. Come Christmas demands soar but the inability to can in large number dampens supply.
After 13 long years of prohibiting grape cultivators from producing wine the amendment of the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition (MLTP) Act 1997 in 2007 has fueled the enthusiasm of the grape farmers. The Act earlier prevented large-scale commercialisation of wine products and wine-making from grapes. In September 2010, Zawlaidi was made commercially available.
Tourist can find comfortable lodges, hotels and inns at Champhai for a stay.
