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

[Denim]

On 5/5/2019 at 4:21 PM, xylophone said:

Thanks for that post, very interesting and may I ask if it is sweet??

 

I say this because I am having one hell of a job trying to get hold of something akin to a sweet wine to have after-dinner, but resent paying about 900 baht for a late harvest type wine if indeed one can be found.

 

I don't mind if it's not a wine, because it doesn't purport to be anything other than what it is!

 

And I did post somewhere that I saw your El Coto rosé wine in Tops (Phuket) the other day for 199 baht, so there is still some around by all accounts. 

 

On 5/5/2019 at 3:00 PM, Denim said:

Slightly off topic but I ran into this at my local mom and pop store last week.

 

 

 

Now, it's not wine but only Sato. But the best Sato I have ever tasted. Used to occasionally drink Siam Sato from 7/11 but way too sweet and only 7 degrees. 

 

This ICY stuff is quite pleasant and is a good 12 degrees. Best part....only 35 baht a bottle, 2 glasses worth.

 

Yes .....I know it's not wine so for those posters who wouldn't dream of trying anything new or ersatz , calm down . But for bargain basement blokes this is probably the best substitute for wine out there. I don't like beer and refuse to pay silly prices for fruit wine so this fills the gap. Find it slightly better with a tenth part water. Wife prefers it to Leo and one bottle gets her tipsy and frisky.

Got 6 bottles at my local cash and carry today. 30 baht a bottle. Drinking it now with a garlic bread and NZ cheese. Very palatable baring in mind it is not wine and does not pretend to be.

[xylophone]

24 minutes ago, Denim said:

Siam Sato

Would like to try that Denim (Siam Sato), so if you are able a pic of it would be nice!

 

Will also try ICY...so eyes open!

[Denim]

2 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Would like to try that Denim (Siam Sato), so if you are able a pic of it would be nice!

 

Will also try ICY...so eyes open!

I can't really recommend Siam Sato. Too much sugar and only 7 degrees.

Too much used to make my legs ache ?? But you can find it easily enough, usually in 7/11 or Tesco. Not seen any in Big C although they have another brand of Sato with a brownish label. About 38 baht for a big bottle. Weak and a bit dry. Tried it twice then crossed it off the list.

ICY by far the best in all departments but its nice to try things out for yourself as everyone is different.

  My wife never liked any of the other satos , pineapple wine etc but she really likes ICY in preference to Federbrou. Which is good for me. Half the price and twice the punch.

 

 

[xylophone]

On 5/8/2019 at 1:21 PM, Dumbastheycome said:

But there is a  but to my tale. On tasting it that evening I was surprised that it was quite an improvement from previous experience. For no reason other than curiosity I  checked the  label against an old empty bottle. The  "fruit" wine on the old label has been removed from the new. The  alcohol level  has also dropped from 13.5 to 13.0.

 

On 5/8/2019 at 5:55 PM, xylophone said:

Now whether we are getting something different here remains to be seen, however a quick look around the back label on the bottle should have some hint/mention of "added fruit juice".

 

On 5/8/2019 at 5:55 PM, xylophone said:

It may well be that Laughing Bird wine has changed from that which had fruit juice added to now not having it, and I have been on a couple of websites that supply the UK and spoken to a representative there, as well as reading a couple of write-ups, and it appears no fruit juice is added to those?? 

Some news on the Laughing Bird wine that we get here..........

 

I checked on the back label of the Laughing Bird wine in Big C and sure enough the new alcohol content is 13%, and barely visible on the back label in very small print were the words: "red fruit wine product", so it is still the same old product.

 

Seems strange that Cranswick, the company who produces this wine, exports the wine with fruit juice added to Thailand, but apparently doesn't send it elsewhere?? Well not according to the importer I spoke to just a couple of days ago?

 

Bit of a mystery, but there again we have all got different tastes and each to their own.

[topt]

On 5/8/2019 at 6:07 PM, keemapoot said:

Maybe off-topic a bit, but I will be driving to Laos (Suvannakhet) in my own car and wondering if anyone has experience bringing wines across the border back to Thailand? I am thinking maybe a couple of cases of French wine, but wondering if anybody has done this and what to expect at customs?

Legally you are only supposed to be able to bring in 1L of alcohol and last time I checked there is no option to declare extra and pay the duty..........which would be about 300%. 

If caught they could confiscate and or levy a big fine. 

 

On the other hand you could get away with it........

[Dumbastheycome]

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

 

Some news on the Laughing Bird wine that we get here..........

 

I checked on the back label of the Laughing Bird wine in Big C and sure enough the new alcohol content is 13%, and barely visible on the back label in very small print were the words: "red fruit wine product", so it is still the same old product.

 

Seems strange that Cranswick, the company who produces this wine, exports the wine with fruit juice added to Thailand, but apparently doesn't send it elsewhere?? Well not according to the importer I spoke to just a couple of days ago?

 

Bit of a mystery, but there again we have all got different tastes and each to their own.

Aha!  You are correct! The reference to red fruit wine has been moved to just below the barcode whereas before it was in the description at the top of the  back label. Sneaky. However I still stand by my statement that it  seemed (or at least this one bottle) was an improvement on the last by memory. Not so much as to justify the price jump though.

Or maybe my regular "Kangaroo" via Cambodia is so much worse ! lol

Edited May 11, 2019 by Dumbastheycome

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

However I still stand by my statement that it  seemed (or at least this one bottle) was an improvement on the last by memory.

Quite possible as the grape vintages vary in quality anyway, so you might have got a good un. 

[Dumbastheycome]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

Quite possible as the grape vintages vary in quality anyway, so you might have got a good un. 

So true. Before I chose  to  stay in Thailand I  had  preference for  wines from  boutique wineries  where long experienced  wine makers  provided a  good level of consistency. Sadly many of them  are  deceased and their  families  have sold out  to  corporate blindness blandness.

 

[xylophone]

15 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

So true. Before I chose  to  stay in Thailand I  had  preference for  wines from  boutique wineries  where long experienced  wine makers  provided a  good level of consistency. Sadly many of them  are  deceased and their  families  have sold out  to  corporate blindness blandness.

 

Yes, there was a time when there was a consistency within various vineyards and producers, yet enough of a differentiation within the range of production areas to be able to make it worthwhile seeking out individual producers.

 

I collected a lot of French wines, and in my tours of some of the vineyards, discovered some great wines in the south of France, outside of the normal high-flyers.

 

Likewise in Australia for a while, however one thing that has dampened my enthusiasm for some Aussie wines was the fact that some winemakers (possibly owned by large corporates) started down the track of producing huge red wines, sometimes up into the 15% alcohol and so "fruit driven" that there was no finesse about the wine at all, and no complexity, just one big "blob of alcoholic jam" in the mouth.

 

Thankfully, some have pulled back from this style and there are some quite brilliant wines made in Oz these days.

 

Reminds me of the days back in NZ in the late 1980s when winemakers were experimenting with oak and one particular producer was famous for his Black Label Chardonnay, which was hugely oaked and which didn't agree with many people's palates, however it was a phase the industry was going through.

 

I kept a couple of bottles in my cellar for a few years and tried them, and it was like drinking a fruitless wine through oak chips, almost unbearable. Thankfully that phase petered out.

[topt]

11 hours ago, xylophone said:

Black Label Chardonnay, which was hugely oaked and which didn't agree with many people's palates,

I'd almost kill for a good oaky Chardonnay.........they seem to have gone almost completely in the opposite direction at the prices I am willing to pay........ 

[utalkin2me]

On 6/2/2018 at 1:23 PM, Cadbury said:

The price of unadulterated (fruit juice free) wine in Thailand is far too high. I just go without. When I visit Vietnam I buy a 5 litre box of reasonable quality 13% Chilean red or white for the equivalent of 560 baht. The difference in price between the two countries is called GREED.

The 5L is allowed. I thought max was 1 L. If this is true I would like to know. 

[utalkin2me]

This is one of those topics that explains politics perfectly. 

 

Those who drink wine oppose the high tax. Those who do not drink wine support the tax. Those who do drink wine and support the tax are morons. Those who do not drink wine and support the tax are the only objective and honest people alive (and mind you there is nobody who does not drink wine and supports the tax). 

[xylophone]

30 minutes ago, topt said:

I'd almost kill for a good oaky Chardonnay

The Morton Estate Black Label Chardonnay had so much oak you could almost taste the splinters!!!!!!

[trigpoint]

On 5/11/2019 at 1:06 PM, topt said:

Legally you are only supposed to be able to bring in 1L of alcohol and last time I checked there is no option to declare extra and pay the duty..........which would be about 300%. 

If caught they could confiscate and or levy a big fine. 

 

On the other hand you could get away with it........

My g/f used to bring in about 6 bottles of wine and a 3 litre box from Cambodia at hat lek border, never got stopped apart from one time when she had 2boxes,  the customs person looked in her bag and said only one box, and just took the box,  that was it. 

[ruffneck]

Central is selling Australian Eaglehawk Cab Sav, Merlot, Shiraz for B399. Makro has the Cab Sav for B399 and alot of people were buying when i was there yesterday. 

[xylophone]

4 hours ago, ruffneck said:

Central is selling Australian Eaglehawk Cab Sav, Merlot, Shiraz for B399. Makro has the Cab Sav for B399 and alot of people were buying when i was there yesterday. 

Yes, I did post about that a while back and that's a good price for a reasonable "drinker".

[fforest1]

I went into Best liqueur store yesterday (2nd road and Central) I could not believe how small the wine section has become...They use to have a very nice vibrant wine selection...Now the wine section is pitiful........

I guess people really are voting with their wallet and just not buying wine any more or buying much less....

 

Before the government fully set in stone their draconian price controls on wine a year or two ago  Best liqueur store would most times have a some bargain specials on some cheap wine they had found some where......All specials seem to be completely gone these days..   

Edited July 3, 2019 by fforest1

[xylophone]

6 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

I went into Best liqueur store yesterday (2nd road and Central) I could not believe how small the wine section has become...They use to have a very nice vibrant wine selection...Now the wine section is pitiful........

I guess people really are voting with their wallet and just not buying wine any more or buying much less....

 

Before the government fully set in stone their draconian price controls on wine a year or two ago  Best liqueur store would most times have a some bargain specials on some cheap wine they had found some where......All specials seem to be completely gone these days..   

I'm still finding some reasonably (for Thailand) wines out there............World of Wines selection at Tesco Lotus for 349 baht, also at the same place, Montepulciano d' Abruzzo (nice wine) at 549b, at Central, Eaglehawk range from WolfBlass at 399b and McWilliams Shiraz at 380b, also a favourite, Hopes End, at 440b a bottle so all is not lost from my perspective.

[fforest1]

3 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I'm still finding some reasonably (for Thailand) wines out there............World of Wines selection at Tesco Lotus for 349 baht, also at the same place, Montepulciano d' Abruzzo (nice wine) at 549b, at Central, Eaglehawk range from WolfBlass at 399b and McWilliams Shiraz at 380b, also a favourite, Hopes End, at 440b a bottle so all is not lost from my perspective.

Thats great..... But for guys like me who are/were connoisseurs of rock bottomed priced close-out clearance specials of 2 liter and boxed wine.....These are sad days....lol

[BobBKK]

16 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I'm still finding some reasonably (for Thailand) wines out there............World of Wines selection at Tesco Lotus for 349 baht, also at the same place, Montepulciano d' Abruzzo (nice wine) at 549b, at Central, Eaglehawk range from WolfBlass at 399b and McWilliams Shiraz at 380b, also a favourite, Hopes End, at 440b a bottle so all is not lost from my perspective.

world of wines must have added fruit surely

[sirocco]

Exactly, there is varietal wine (grape) at 349 B at TESCO.
It's VINEYARDS, Australian wine, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.
A wine to try because it is good.
Please, contrary to popular belief, a red wine can be kept cool, if possible surrounded by a cloth and in ice water.
To say "wine chambered" has no sense in our time, knowing that often it is 25 ° in our rooms.
We are more at the time of the skins of beast.

[xylophone]

43 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

world of wines must have added fruit surely

No it apparently does not, as it would have to state that on the label (back label usually) and it is an ok drinker, if a little light for my taste.

[xylophone]

12 minutes ago, sirocco said:

Exactly, there is varietal wine (grape) at 349 B at TESCO.
It's VINEYARDS, Australian wine, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.
A wine to try because it is good.
Please, contrary to popular belief, a red wine can be kept cool, if possible surrounded by a cloth and in ice water.
To say "wine chambered" has no sense in our time, knowing that often it is 25 ° in our rooms.
We are more at the time of the skins of beast.

I keep my red wines in a wine cooler fridge at 18 degrees which is perfect here, then the wine opens up as it is being poured and it never reaches the high temps here, as it is either drunk way before, or re-sealed and put back in the fridge for the next day!

[sirocco]

Oh ! the ! the ! xylophone, what you have is the ideal.
This is very good for a confirmed, knowledgeable amateur (unless your professional background has led you through vines)
But, without wanting to offend some people, it does not matter the wine if you have drunkenness or the taste of alcohol. Pity.
So a refrigerator, a cooler, an ice bucket, a cloth, ice water will suffice.

[xylophone]

5 minutes ago, sirocco said:

Oh ! the ! the ! xylophone, what you have is the ideal.
This is very good for a confirmed, knowledgeable amateur (unless your professional background has led you through vines)
But, without wanting to offend some people, it does not matter the wine if you have drunkenness or the taste of alcohol. Pity.
So a refrigerator, a cooler, an ice bucket, a cloth, ice water will suffice.

Yes it suits my needs and have been studying and collecting wines for almost 50 years now, as well as advising restaurants on their wine lists.

 

I agree that far too many red wines here are served too warm, so the cooling methods you describe will definitely suffice.

[xylophone]

On 6/5/2019 at 7:15 PM, ruffneck said:

Central is selling Australian Eaglehawk Cab Sav, Merlot, Shiraz for B399. Makro has the Cab Sav for B399 and alot of people were buying when i was there yesterday. 

Just noticed that Big C has reduced the price of a couple of its popular wines from 499 baht down to 429 baht a bottle and they are reasonable Aussie drinkers.

 

There may be more but the two I saw were "Barwang The Wall" Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz and the other was "Gossips" (not the added fruit juice one) at the same price.

 

Had one with my chili con carne the other night and it went down a treat, or most of it did as I'm trying to cut back on my consumption!

 

Don't know why they've reduced the price, and as the saying goes, "ours is not to reason why, ours is just to go and buy".

[Guderian]

Some of the 3 litre box wines that were selling for 999 Baht before have been reduced to 899 in Friendship and Makro. I know that 300 Baht/litre still isn't cheap, and the wines aren't great, but at least the price has gone in the right direction for once.

[xylophone]

9 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Some of the 3 litre box wines that were selling for 999 Baht before have been reduced to 899 in Friendship and Makro. I know that 300 Baht/litre still isn't cheap, and the wines aren't great, but at least the price has gone in the right direction for once.

Would like more of the real wines to come down in price, as a few seem to have done recently.

[topt]

On 7/10/2019 at 4:46 PM, xylophone said:

Don't know why they've reduced the price, and as the saying goes, "ours is not to reason why, ours is just to go and buy".

I think perhaps Big C is clearing out stock. Certainly the local Big C Extra in Pattaya has no Barwang at all and the  Gossips space on the shelves was not full.

[Rimmer]

A post in giant oversize bold fonts removed also a reply