Skip to main content

Paradise by the Distillery Light: A Closer Look at Manutea Tahiti and Pineapple Wine

In the paradise that is Polynesia, it’s hard to top pristine beaches, crystal clear waters, and ocean-side accommodations. Well, we found one way to top it: by adding booze. No, we’re not talking about frosty blended drinks (though, if you’ve got your toes dug into the sand, those are indeed great); we’re talking about alcohol made where you are. In this case, that alcohol is made by Manutea Tahiti distillery.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The distillery, which has been open since 1984, is located on Mo’orea (51 square miles and home to 16,000 residents), one of the Windward Islands — part of the Society Islands — about 11 miles northwest of Tahiti.

Recommended Videos

It might be obvious, but tropical flavors and locally sourced fruit are central to Manutea’s product line. You can find both sparkling and still pineapple wines, as well as fruit punches, liqueurs (pineapple, banana, and coconut), a variety of rums (using both pure cane sugar and molasses as their bases), and other flavored spirits like vanilla, coffee, and coconut cream liqueurs.

Manutea Tahiti distillery pineapple wine
Image used with permission by copyright holder

All of these are produced at the distillery, which has three fermentation tanks that hold 16,000 liters each. Every year, Manutea Tahiti pumps out around 230,000 bottles, according to Etienne Houot, the sales and marketing manager for the distillery.

The flagship products — the pineapple wines — took a good amount of work to finalize, according to Houot.

“It took us six years to define the pineapple juice used to create our wine and the yeast that matches with it. An oenologist came to us to manage this project, and we still work with oenologists to ensure our wines are produced at a better quality,” Houot says.

The wide variety of products beyond the wines come from the distillery’s focus on the future — on finding what else they can create that simultaneously utilizes local ingredients and promotes the local culture.

Manutea Tahiti distillery pineapple wine
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“We have named innovation as a value of the Manutea Tahiti company and, thanks to our new projects, we are able to increase our turnover,” Houot says. “More than 80 percent of our consumption goods are imported from abroad, and that is a real motivation for our teams to be better and clever and to create new ranges, new flavors.”

Currently, somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of the product is sold outside of Tahiti. Houot says that, in the future, they hope to hit 15 to 20 percent by showcasing the fact that, through products like their pineapple wine, they are not only selling the terroir of Polynesia, but the culture as well.

“This area is very unique and well-preserved from mass pollution. Our islands are like sanctuaries lost in the middle of South Pacific. We should never forget that point, and we have to promote this to our consumers until they know that our pineapple wine or sugar cane rum are rare products,” Houot says.

Houot had us at “rare products”. Just kidding, he had us at “Tahiti” and “distillery” and “pineapple wine” and just about everything else the distillery is doing. If you’ve already got your finger on the trigger to book your tickets, feel free to snag ours too. We’ll take the middle seat — it’s okay.

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
3 expert-approved ways to boost your coffee’s health benefits
How to level-up your morning brew
Coffee Beans

Coffee has long been linked to health and longevity, with new studies frequently published that explore its exciting health benefits. Today's health-focused coffee drinkers are paying even more attention than ever, with alternative options such as decaf and functional mushroom coffee on the rise.

According to Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN, Dietitian at Clevland Clinic Department of Wellness and Preventative Medicine, simple health hacks can help you boost the healthfulness of your morning coffee even more. Kirkpatrick has seen many of her patients recently wanting to get "more bang for their nutritional buck" and searching for opportunities to get as many benefits and nutrients as possible.

Read more
The simple science behind how to cook medium steak
A foolproof guide to perfect doneness
Steak levels of doneness

Every backyard grill master has their version of steak perfection. For me, that perfect middle ground came into focus the day a guest asked, “Can you make mine medium?” The slight panic was real. I had always shot for medium-rare or well-done — I didn't even know there was an in-between.

But learning how to cook steak medium turned out to be less about guesswork and more about a few reliable cues and a good meat thermometer. Cooking steak to a juicy medium pink center, warm throughout, and just the right touch of resistance, means paying attention to detail from start to finish.

Read more
Healthy meals, less stress: My HelloFresh experience
Are the meals delicious and are the recipes easy to follow? Are there any leftovers?
Hello Fresh Pork Mango Salsa Tacos meal

As someone with an autoimmune disease, it’s important to me to eat healthier, which in turn helps keep my pain and inflammation lower and makes me feel better in general. The less processed, junky, and sugary, and the more natural and healthier, the better. There’s also the waistline to think about.

As my schedule got busier, I had less time to cook my usual favorite healthy meals, and the holidays came around, and I found myself eating more and more, shall we say, “not so healthy” meals. Our habits and routines can shift over time, so I wanted to try meal kits like HelloFresh to see if they could help me eat more wholesome, natural foods despite my limited time.

Read more