India, May 13 -- For decades, global conversation about wine and fermentation has been shaped by a Eurocentric narrative. Most of us grow up thinking that "real" wine starts and ends with the European grape, Vitis vinifera. When people talk about ancient wineries like the 6,000-year-old Areni-1 in Armenia, they often overlook the vibrant traditions blossoming elsewhere, especially in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. Far from the celebrated European landscapes, communities across North East India have long practised sophisticated fermentation traditions based not on grapes but on grains, fruits, and herbal starter cultures. These traditions remain largely absent from global discussions of fermentation heritage, despite representing a r...