Flower power: Pune woman gets a patent for rose wine

Jayashree Yadav, an entrepreneur from Pune, has developed a novel technique to make ‘rose wine’ with unique ingredients and roses. She has received a patent and is setting up a winery near Pune which is set to begin production by January-end.

“I had been in the business of making Gulkand, Gulab Jal, Gulab Sharbat etc. for about two decades. I then trained in herbal cultivation and processing from the Maharashtra Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (MCED), Pune. We had Desi Gulab as one of the subjects. I liked it the most. Later, I involved myself in the making of various products of the rose,” says Jayashree.

The fragrance, colour and medicinal properties of this flower made her wonder if she could make wine out of it. “I would always think that rose would make a really wonderful wine. So we (Yadav and her daughter Kashmira) began our experiments with rose wine in2008-09,” she said. One of her relatives who tasted the wine suggested Yadav go for a patent. She then filed for the patent after succeeding in developing a formula for the taste and quality of the wine.

Advocate Ganesh Hingmire who handled the application process for the patent told The Federal, “They approached us with this unique product and I could immediately sense the potential of the product. We fast-tracked the process and made sure that our application becomes finely drafted coinciding with the government guidelines which are of utmost importance in patent grant procedure”.

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The formula has now has become her intellectual property right. This means that Yadav has now exclusive right to produce rose wine with her formula in India for the next 20 years.

Explaining her daughter’s involvement in the process, she said that Kashmira enrolled herself in a diploma course in wine technology in Melbourne, Australia. This helped the mother-daughter to know the nitty-gritty of wine-making.

“Now we are taking the help of a technician who is involved in the making of non-grape wine. My daughter has now taken charge of setting up this whole winery business based on our rose wine patent,” says Yadav.

When asked about the rose wines currently available in the markets, Kashmira said, “No, no. Had rose wine been into the market, we wouldn’t have had to spend six years of our life looking for amendments in government rules. India had permission to make wine out of fruits only, not the flowers.”

“We were following up on an amendment in the excise law which would facilitate in flower wine production. This change was made in 2017 enabling us to produce wine from flowers,” said Jayashree Yadav.

What one gets in the market right now is the wine produced from the skin of black/green grapes and then the rose flavour is added to it, says Kashmira. “Ours is made exclusively from roses. That”s our uniqueness,” she says.

“First of all, the main ingredient itself (rose) is unique and the product is different from other wines available in the market. We are using a flower instead of conventional fruits. ‘Edward Rose’ which is commonly known as Deshi Gulaab also has many medicinal properties. So we thought why not make wine out of it. Thus, my mom started experimenting with it. The rose has a peculiar fragrance and a unique colour that makes the product even more unique,” said Kashmira.