A good Thai wine. Now there's a surprise.

I always suggest trying local wine with local food. But what do we choose when it comes to Thai food? Is there such a thing as good Thai wine?



Thailand isn't exactly at the top of the global wine producers' league table. Wine enhusiasts will probably have heard of the Siam wines. I once was unlucky enought to drink the dull, undrinkable, watery, bitter wines of the Siam winery- let's just say I wasn't rushing back for more.



During a recent visit to a luxury resort off the Andaman coast, I was offered another glass of Thai wine. Given my past experience, the prospect didn't excite me very much. But I didn't want to be rude So I decided to brace myself for another glass of Thai wine.



I was pleasantly surprised to find that the glass of Thai Chenin Blanc was drinkable. With some smoky aromas and lots of fruit on the tongue, this was a rather good glass of wine.



I later learned that this wine exists due to the vision of one wine-loving entrepreneur. His name is Dr. Plya Bhirombhakdi. He happens to have a taste for the good things in life.



It all began back in 1989 on a large piece of land with a total area of 320 Ha, surrounded by mountains and with a preferred macroclimate for viticulture. So begins the story of Khao Yai wines!



Finding the right grape variety must have been a huge challenge - one that would grow and produce quality grapes in a tropical climate such as Thailand. It turns out that the best way to figure this out, was to give them all a try.



They did this by planting more than fifty different grape varieties. Two years of diligent testing and tasting later, it was resolved that shiraz, tempranillo, chenin blanc and colombard were the "stars of the show!"



It is one thing to have the right grapes, but quite another to find a talented winemaker to make the wine. Dr. PB preferred to use someone that he knew, which is why he chose one of the brew masters from his old beer company to study Oenology in Germany



He returned to Thailand in 1994 to take up the helm at South East Asia's largest and most advanced winery. The first vintage was produced 4 years later in 1998; and today 12 years later the PB wines of Khoa Yai are ready to surprise and impress.



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