Another price increase for wine, it's getting silly now.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Two things I abjure whilst in Thailand: wine and cheese - which also happen to be two of the foodstuffs closest to heaven. Such is the irony of life.

[Lucky mike]

Kill the golden goose ?

[xylophone]

7 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

But I digest.

We met up on a recent border run and I had mixed plum wine with the cheapest wine at the time ( NADIN ) and he said " Bugger me that is good , what wine is it ? ".

But I digest.

 

Probably only just with that mix!!!!

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, OmegaRacer said:

I don't bother with wine in cartons. I rather drink 1 nice bottle worth 1000Baht than 5 liters of boxed wine for the same price.
In my experience you start to get nice wine when buying bottles around 800Baht up. 

There are also nice Thai wines: PB Valley (the medium and expensive ones) and Village Farm in Wang Nam Kiaw have some very tasty ones. They got the help from French professionals who helped them starting up and who regularly come to oversee the quality.

I have tasted a few Thai wines, but have never been impressed with them and even visited Monsoon Valley vineyard and did a little bit of a winetasting there, and again I was not impressed. This despite their top Shiraz supposedly having won a medal somewhere, but could not for the life of me see why?

 

I also remember tasting another Thai wine (PB?) which was just under the thousand baht mark and supposedly very good, but again I could not see the value in it.

 

A friend bought a bottle of the "Black Knight" red wine to dinner a few weeks back and although it was lacking body and much in the way of fruit, a couple of folks thought it was just okay??

 

As I mentioned previously, I am still managing to find some Aussie wines at good prices, and I will keep buying them for as long as I can.

[Bangkok Barry]

On 6/2/2018 at 3:22 PM, morrobay said:

And the local wine is undrinkable unless you like excess aldehydes. Are these tax increases on wine proportional with other alcohol beverages.  If not its a foreigners tax. By the way they are even complaining about this on reddit,  r/thailand

 

It's a luxury tax. I believe that only 10 percent of Thais pay income tax so the government hikes the tax on things that the average Thai doesn't buy, such as wine, and imported goods of all kinds including cars. My sister lived in Spain, and the wine there is so cheap they have a festival during which they throw it over each other, Songkran-style. Sickening, isn't it ☹️

[yimlitnoy]

The Thai are now drinking hard stuff: 40%++ instead of softer beer and wine.  This policy of government heavy tax measured in alcohol content is only encouraging alcoholism and early death.  Less sales will simply bring less taxes...  Now all are drinking whisky by the bottles.  The law needs changing, who can afford a THB 2000 steak with a THB 1000 wine glass?

[sammieuk1]

My red consumption is now virtually zero due to blatant profiteering now down to laughing bird 2lt 455bt when that's gone the way of Mar Sol it will absolute zero   

[anto]

2 hours ago, DonaldBattles said:

New  boxes of Montclair are now 3 liters for B995. It is the desire to keep Thais from eating or drinking anything imported. They protect the foreign reserves. With 420% import tax on rot gut you are not getting much value. Last time I was there Tachilek in Burma dos not have any box wines.

There is a shop there that does .Around B490 for 4 lt if i remember correctly.That was 2 months ago .

Edited June 4, 2018 by anto

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

1 hour ago, toofarnorth said:

While you are in Lotus JJ look for Chinese plum wine. A year ago it was 180 now 220B , it is very sweet but if mixed with the cheapest red plonk say, 2 parts plonk - 1 part chinese you get a very acceptable drink.

My litre bottle of Jameson from over t'border Maesai ( 500B ) is going fast so tomorrow over we go again . Wonder if they have Southern Comfort , did 2 years ago @ 350B.

If you like their plum wine then in those cold winter months up North take a look at the shelf where seesip degree sits and you shall see a red bottle with a red label with chinese characters on it. Heat that up in a saucepan, it's not quite gluhwein or Gloggy, but near enough to warm your cockles..

 

I was served it with a raw clove of garlic in a tin cup from a tin kettle in a small village way up North of Shenyang ....Bloody loved it!!

 

Perhaps I shall add it to a jug of Mont Clair and see what happens...

[Psychic]

I used to complain about the high price of bad wine here.

 

Then they raised price by another 30% or more.

 

It worked!

 

I don't complain anymore.

 

Judging by the local Makro display where the same 2 boxes are missing for 3 weeks now. I think a lot of others are also not complaining.

 

I fully expect the lack of sales and profits will induce the usual response...another price hike.

 

I wonder what happens to all that wine when it's shelf life ends.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Psychic

[Sydebolle]

Submarines do not come cheap these days ? 

[terryofcrete]

I imagine that there is someone “ up there” in the hierarchy of this lovely country who thinks native. Wine is not important , tax it big time. They would have no idea of the number of people who would not touch Thailand for holidays as they are quality wine drinkers in their own countries. I personally know of family members who refuse to include Thailand on their list because of the exorbitant price of an ordinary bottle of plonk. I am Irish, not a cheap country to live in or visit,  but the price of a bottle of Australian wine, not particularly remarkable, such as Jacobs Creek, is twice the price in Thailand than Ireland, and I shudder to think how cheap it is in Australia. But this particular penny has never dropped. 

 

[giddyup]

9 minutes ago, terryofcrete said:

I imagine that there is someone “ up there” in the hierarchy of this lovely country who thinks native. Wine is not important , tax it big time. They would have no idea of the number of people who would not touch Thailand for holidays as they are quality wine drinkers in their own countries. I personally know of family members who refuse to include Thailand on their list because of the exorbitant price of an ordinary bottle of plonk. I am Irish, not a cheap country to live in or visit,  but the price of a bottle of Australian wine, not particularly remarkable, such as Jacobs Creek, is twice the price in Thailand than Ireland, and I shudder to think how cheap it is in Australia. But this particular penny has never dropped. 

 

The average Jacobs Creek in Oz is around A$9 or 230 baht a bottle. It sells in a 7/11 here for around 700 baht or A$28.

[domdom]

Hello

In big C, Makro and Fooland there is a wine called Laughing Bird...

Appeared 2 months ago.. 419 bahts for a 1.5 L glass bottle..

Not bad..  Now gone to 469

Have a nice day

[giddyup]

3 minutes ago, domdom said:

Hello

In big C, Makro and Fooland there is a wine called Laughing Bird...

Appeared 2 months ago.. 419 bahts for a 1.5 L glass bottle..

Not bad..  Now gone to 469

Have a nice day

Tried it, but found it lacking body, especially after Castle Creek.

Edited June 4, 2018 by giddyup

[NoshowJones]

Yes, seems the tax icreases are now appying to Big C as they have put their tins of baked beans up from 39 Bt to 42Bt.

Edited June 4, 2018 by possum1931

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Yes, and Big C have put their tins of baked beans up from 39 Bt to 42Bt.

I thought the topic was wine?

[NoshowJones]

2 minutes ago, giddyup said:

I thought the topic was wine?

and tax increases.

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

and tax increases.

Have a look at the header, I see it mentions wine, not baked beans. In fact every response except yours is only talking wine.

Edited June 4, 2018 by giddyup

[domdom]

Right, lighter than castle creek, but for daily use, I prefer this one..

Quality is equivalent according to me, then depends upon one another taste..

Have a nice day

[vogie]

8 minutes ago, giddyup said:

I thought the topic was wine?

It should have bean. 

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

5 minutes ago, vogie said:

It should have bean. 

Don't make him repeat himself...

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

20 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Tried it, but found it lacking body, especially after Castle Creek.

Yep - I had become quite fond of Castle Creek..

[Lucky mike]

Tesco now advertise 5 lt Castle Creek over 1600 bt online.....Ned Kelly has nothing on this !

[Older and Wiser]

On 6/2/2018 at 3:10 PM, vogie said:

I bought 5 litres of Mont Clair for a tad over 1000 baht, there are nearly 7 bottles in a 5 litre box, which would work out at about 150 baht a bottle. When I look at it that way, I find it quite drinkable.

Wow, where did you get that? It's over B1,100 for 3 litres of Mont Clair in Makro.

 

Prices have doubled since I was here a few months ago, crazy. Are they really trying to encourage tourists to come here? 

[Lacessit]

On 6/2/2018 at 6:22 PM, xylophone said:

 

Don't want to have to disagree with you Lacessit, but I'm going to have to on this point!

 

Most wines are shipped these days in air-conditioned containers, with some of the better wines exported in the belly of an aeroplane and given top treatment. 

 

I have imported wines from France to NZ on many occasions and the wine is perfect, as it has to be, otherwise the reputation of the producer and the country suffers.

 

There is possibly one exception and that could well be with the cask/box wines in as much as nobody knows for quite how long they could sit on a dock or similar, whereas the better wines and even those shipped by reputable companies usually get preferential treatment to ensure that they are not sitting in a hot warehouse somewhere!

 

If a producer and shipper/freight forwarder know their stuff, wine should not suffer when travelling distance, not more so than a few days rest wouldn't cure (the purists suggest that wine "bruises" or words to that effect when subjected to travel – – unproven as yet).

You may be right. However, I'd suggest that treatment is reserved for the top-end stuff retailing for 2000 - 3000 baht a bottle. Can't see it happening with stuff that's 399 baht.

Whites are probably OK. The red colour you see in the shiraz's, Cab Sauv's etc. is not a soluble compound - it's a colloid. They get upset easily.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

21 hours ago, NanLaew said:

No it's not.

Are you saying Malaysia is not a muslim country?

 

'Cos you'd be wrong if you are.

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

I have read that an unopened box of wine has a shelf life of only one year. Can anybody verify this???

 

My old stock Mont Clair MFD is Sept '17 so I'm thinking of buying a few in..At 1005 a box it is surely worth it financially but will I be able to resist temptation..??

 

Also if it is only one year, there will be quite a large wine lake in Thailand Songkran next year!!

[joloit]

We, the consumers, have it in our own hands to stop this greedy act. Stop buying wine in Thailand!! Problem should solved soon!!

[mikosan]

On 6/2/2018 at 4:51 PM, vogie said:

It was yesterday.

Then you were very lucky.  Where did you buy it?  5 litre boxes seem to have disappeared from the shelves to be replace by 3 litre ones at about the same price where I live.