Thai New Latitude wines complement food
By Yao Minji |
April 4, 2013, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THAI people usually drink beer or whisky, including many locally produced brands of various price ranges. Many people like to cooling off the spiciness of food with a glass of cold beer, local ones even better. It is rare to come across wine in Thailand.
Therefore, it was exciting to discover a vineyard covering around 1.6 square kilometers in Hua Hin, a famous beach resort town.
Monsoon Valley vineyard exports 80 percent of its production to Europe, while the rest is served in the valley's own restaurant and high-end hotels and restaurants in Thailand.
Like Brazil, India and China, tropical Thailand is outside the 30-50 degrees latitude, which is traditionally considered the best for vineyards and wineries.
Technological advances in refrigeration and irrigation and greater control on when grapes ripen allow winemakers to experiment in other regions, such as Thailand.
A handful of vineyards are scattered around the country, from southern islands like Pattaya to central regions like Hua Hin.
Thailand is closer to the equator and has a rainy season, which makes it more difficult to grow grapes and allows only a few varietals such as Colombard, Chenin Blanc and Shiraz to be grown. The harvest season is generally February to April, depending on the location and the majority of wine is for export.
"The 'New Latitude' wines teach the right to be wrong. They turn the wine world up-side down," Kathrin Puff, Monsoon Valley's German winemaker, explains on its homepage. "Basically a New Latitude producer is doing everything twice in the vineyard, but harvesting only once, and consequently there's twice the hardship."
Most of the Thai vineyards are open for tourists around the vineyards and for wine tasting. Like other New Latitude regions, Thai wine is drawing more attention in recent years.
I tasted a white wine made of Colombard grapes from the Monsoon Valley, one of its best selling wines. Other bestsellers include sparkling wine made from Chenin Blanc, Colombard and Viognier grapes, and white made from Chenin Blanc.
At first, the Monsoon Valley Colombard felt very sweet with an unsettling hint of tartness. After some spoons of tom yum kung soup and a few bites of fried prawn cake dipped in fish sauce-based chili paste, the sweetness was brought down to a more comfortable level and the tartness was gone.
The wine felt round and the fruity aroma is richer with the tropical food, while the well-balanced spiciness, sweetness, saltiness, sourness and bitterness were further highlighted by the wine.
Therefore, it was exciting to discover a vineyard covering around 1.6 square kilometers in Hua Hin, a famous beach resort town.
Monsoon Valley vineyard exports 80 percent of its production to Europe, while the rest is served in the valley's own restaurant and high-end hotels and restaurants in Thailand.
Like Brazil, India and China, tropical Thailand is outside the 30-50 degrees latitude, which is traditionally considered the best for vineyards and wineries.
Technological advances in refrigeration and irrigation and greater control on when grapes ripen allow winemakers to experiment in other regions, such as Thailand.
A handful of vineyards are scattered around the country, from southern islands like Pattaya to central regions like Hua Hin.
Thailand is closer to the equator and has a rainy season, which makes it more difficult to grow grapes and allows only a few varietals such as Colombard, Chenin Blanc and Shiraz to be grown. The harvest season is generally February to April, depending on the location and the majority of wine is for export.
"The 'New Latitude' wines teach the right to be wrong. They turn the wine world up-side down," Kathrin Puff, Monsoon Valley's German winemaker, explains on its homepage. "Basically a New Latitude producer is doing everything twice in the vineyard, but harvesting only once, and consequently there's twice the hardship."
Most of the Thai vineyards are open for tourists around the vineyards and for wine tasting. Like other New Latitude regions, Thai wine is drawing more attention in recent years.
I tasted a white wine made of Colombard grapes from the Monsoon Valley, one of its best selling wines. Other bestsellers include sparkling wine made from Chenin Blanc, Colombard and Viognier grapes, and white made from Chenin Blanc.
At first, the Monsoon Valley Colombard felt very sweet with an unsettling hint of tartness. After some spoons of tom yum kung soup and a few bites of fried prawn cake dipped in fish sauce-based chili paste, the sweetness was brought down to a more comfortable level and the tartness was gone.
The wine felt round and the fruity aroma is richer with the tropical food, while the well-balanced spiciness, sweetness, saltiness, sourness and bitterness were further highlighted by the wine.
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