Some of the best movies we’ve seen involve food and when there’s food, we look for wine. You can take a look at our pairings below if you enjoy films AND wine as much as we do. All products featured in this article are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through…

As the world came to realise that we were going to stay inside our homes for a long time, questions about the virus and the development of a vaccine were thrown at experts. Decision makers put together policies for social distancing and in poor nations like the Philippines, amelioration programs had to be up and…

Once COVID-19 is banished by a powerful vaccine, the lockdown in the Philippines will be lifted and everyone of legal age will be able to drink alcohol again. While scientists are racing for a cure and a vaccine, many people around the world would have to quench their thirst with something non-alcoholic for the meantime. Imagine,…

Wines under the Basi del Diablo brand are now available at Kamarinn Cafe, an establishment located near Lake Paoay in Ilocos Norte province. Cases of Basidina and Basi Maria were delivered to the restaurant on March 13, a day after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a community quarantine in the country’s capital. Now that the…

The Basi del Diablo team may have stopped operations due to the liquor ban but its research and development projects are still ongoing, according to the brand’s director Sigrid Salucop. Salucop, who is also the CEO of Basi del Diablo’s mother company Salucop Group, says that “it is one of the things that shouldn’t be…

Disclaimer: There is a liquor ban in the Province of Ilocos Norte which means that selling and drinking alcoholic beverages is illegal for the time being. It is also important for wine enthusiasts to know that the World Health Organization warned that alcohol in general is “an unhelpful coping strategy” for the global health crisis…

“This is the right thing to do. I know though that we can’t set the trend since we are a small company but I am wishing that anyone with a business will follow suit if such a move is within their means. This is easy for us because we maintain a very small team in our manufacturing plant as most of the processing done are done by machines,” Salucop says.

British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce received a bottle of Basi Maria from the Office of the Vice Governor during his visit to Ilocos Norte last January 7. The token came from Vice Governor Cecilia Araneta Marcos who is a stalwart supporter of local products. “The Vice Governor has always made sure to promote…

“The project will surely boost domestic tourism expenditure and I am thankful that the House Committee on Tourism is actively promoting local products. We need that. The show also has fringe benefits. One of the most important is it gives Filipinos an insight on how diverse the country is in terms of its local products. There are so many wonderful local products just waiting to be discovered. Cong Tour will help all of us with those little discoveries and may even aid in our understanding of our own culture,” Salucop says.

The homegrown product has been carried by the Laoag-based establishment since the former’s earlier years but was only displayed at the Pasalubong (Souvenir) shop. By February 2020, the wine brand produced by Salucop Group will be available in every restaurant inside the hotel.