A wild grape garden laden with clusters weighing up to 5kg has become an unexpected attraction in southern Vietnam, prompting its owner to welcome visitors free of charge.

A social media sensation

Accompanied by a friend, Tran Trong Tan, born in 1994 and from An Giang Province, visited a grape garden that has recently gained attention on social media. The garden sits at the foot of Cam Mountain in Nui Cam Commune, An Giang.

Tan said images of the lush green garden, with large clusters of fruit hanging heavily from the vines, had sparked his curiosity and made him want to see it for himself. Once there, he was surprised to learn from the owner that these were wild grapes.

“This was the first time I had ever seen wild grape vines up close. Before this, I had only seen bunches of wild grapes being sold along roadsides, so I had no idea what the plants actually looked like. The garden is incredibly productive. Huge clusters, some green and others deep purple, hang from the trellises, with some bigger than a person’s head. It is quite a sight. I also got to sample wild grape syrup for free, which had a distinctive sweetness and fragrance,” Tan said.

Vu Thanh, also born in 1994 and from Vinh Thanh Trung Commune in An Giang, was similarly impressed by the enormous grape clusters, some weighing 4-5kg. However, as the garden does not sell fresh grapes, he did not get the chance to pick them himself.

The wild grape garden belongs to Nguyen Van Hung, born in 1972 and locally known as Tu Hung, of Nui Cam Commune in An Giang. Hung makes a living as a motorbike taxi driver, taking visitors around Cam Mountain.

He said the garden came about almost by accident after a series of setbacks several years ago. He was equally surprised when it began attracting widespread attention and visitors.

An accidental wild grape garden

Hung previously joined friends on trips into the forest to pick wild grapes, which they brought home to ferment or soak in alcohol. Finding the resulting drinks tasty and believing them to be good for his health, he dug up two young wild grape vines and planted them at home.

He built a trellis over a pond where he raised crabs, hoping the vines would provide shade while producing grapes for infusing alcohol.

When crab farming proved unsuccessful, he converted the land into an orchard growing Thai jackfruit. A few years later, however, a bumper jackfruit harvest coincided with falling prices.

“I was discouraged and pulled out all the jackfruit trees,” Hung recalled. “Four years ago, I noticed that wild grape vines suffered from few pests and could produce plenty of fruit without requiring much care, so I went into the forest to find young plants and planted them across the land where the jackfruit trees had been removed.

“At the time, I only thought about growing wild grapes to ferment the fruit or sell it so my family could earn a little extra income. I never imagined growing them as a business or tourist attraction. Recently, during a gathering, I served my friends some alcohol infused with wild grapes. To my surprise, everyone liked it and started asking about it.

“When they learned that I had a wild grape garden that was in season, they came to see it, filmed videos and took photos to post online. That was how more people learned about the garden and began coming to visit,” he added.

Hung now has a 3,000-square-meter garden with more than 100 thriving wild grape vines. As the garden became better known, he decided to open it to visitors free of charge.

Visitors can walk around the garden and take photos but are not allowed to pick the grapes. According to Hung, the wild fruit is not suitable for eating fresh because of its sour, astringent taste, and eating too much can leave an itchy sensation on the tongue and in the throat.

“Wild grapes picked directly from the forest currently sell for VND30,000-40,000 ($1.14-1.52) per kilogram, but I don’t sell fresh grapes from my garden. All the ripe fruit is used to make grape syrup. I make it by hand, using 4kg of fresh wild grapes and 0.5kg of rock sugar to produce about two liters of syrup. Visitors to the garden can sample it.

“If they like the taste, they can support me by buying a 0.5-liter bottle of wild grape syrup for VND150,000 ($5.70). In the future, I also plan to propagate the vines and share my experience of growing and caring for wild grapes with anyone interested,” he said.

Ha Nguyen