Wine has now become a real luxury in Thailand

[moogradod]

45 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

PB Khao Yai has some decent enough wines and have been awarded gold medals at tastings in Vienna, of course it is up to you to try and decide if it is good or as some would say a plonk....

...................

It is not by chance called Phujuk ? (referring to James Bond) ???? Never had a drinkable Thai wine. I wonder actually why but I am far from being an expert. The Grapes may be imported, there is plenty of sun. Maybe the soil or the change of seasons ? - or they dont know exactly how to do it (although I do not think that this is the reason).

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Haven't tried a particular wine and was interested to see the grapes used, in as much as Roussanne is rarely seen outside of the Rhône wines, and is used to "soften" the Syrah (Shiraz) in that area, where allowed.

 

I will have a look around the "wine cellar" area of Tops to see if they have that particular wine, as would love to try it, with wines from Cote Rotie and that area once being a favourite of mine.

Assuming Tops has it, I'd say at a guess 3000 baht a bottle.

[xylophone]

15 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

I would love a glass of Port , where can I buy it.

Both Grahams and Taylors Late bottled Vintage and Ruby ports are available in better wine shops, Tops being one of them, and I would think that Wine Connection would also have them. However as I said in another post, I get mine from a local importer and distributor and they are just as good as those, and just having checked again, can be bought for 800 baht a bottle.

[ThailandRyan]

1 minute ago, moogradod said:

It is not by chance called Phujuk ? (referring to James Bond) ???? Never had a drinkable Thai wine. I wonder actually why but I am far from being an expert. The Grapes may be imported, there is plenty of sun. Maybe the soil or the change of seasons ? - or they dont know exactly how to do it (although I do not think that this is the reason).

Have you ever been to a winery here in Thailand and watched the harvest. Your showing just why people who make judgements of something without knowing much on the subject get ignored. Buying something at a market without knowing anything about it is always a risk and many then badmouth their decision, when in fact it is there fault to begin with.

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, moogradod said:

It is not by chance called Phujuk ? (referring to James Bond) ???? Never had a drinkable Thai wine. I wonder actually why but I am far from being an expert. The Grapes may be imported, there is plenty of sun. Maybe the soil or the change of seasons ? - or they dont know exactly how to do it (although I do not think that this is the reason).

IMO they have the soil and climate. What they don't have is freedom from smoke taint, and modern technology.

Every Thai wine I have tasted has been out of balance, it seems to me they can't complete fermentation of the sugars.

[jaywalker2]

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Really, so all Thai wines? You need to get out more.

I'm talking about the Thai wines readily available at places like Central, Siam Paragon, Big C, etc. I'm certainly not going to waste my time seeking out esoteric Thai wines.

[ThailandRyan]

Just now, jaywalker2 said:

I'm talking about the Thai wines readily available at places like Central, Siam Paragon, Big C, etc. I'm certainly not going to waste my time seeking out esoteric Thai wines.

Esoteric Thai wines? But you'll buy the cheap feces...got it.

[Excel]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

IMO they have the soil and climate. What they don't have is freedom from smoke taint, and modern technology.

Every Thai wine I have tasted has been out of balance, it seems to me they can't complete fermentation of the sugars.

Never forget who owns the Thai vineyards. Possibly the most well known is Monsoon Valley, owned by the Red Bull heir Chalerm Yoovidhya, so don't blame me if you notice some similarities between their wines and their energy drinks. ???? 

[moogradod]

11 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Have you ever been to a winery here in Thailand and watched the harvest. Your showing just why people who make judgements of something without knowing much on the subject get ignored. Buying something at a market without knowing anything about it is always a risk and many then badmouth their decision, when in fact it is there fault to begin with.

No, I have not been to a winery here. But I said that I do not know much on the subject. So no need to put me down. Just enjoying the discussion. I am an expert on other things. But I never had a drinkable Thai wine. That is nothing but the truth.

[Lemsta69]

12 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Esoteric Thai wines? But you'll buy the cheap feces...got it.

cheap feces is the order of the day on this website. run by poor people for poor people ????

[Excel]

1 minute ago, moogradod said:

No, I have not been to a winery here. But I said that I do not know much on the subject. So no need to put me down. Just enjoying the discussion. I am an expert on other things. But I never had a drinkable Thai wine. That is nothing but the truth.

At the end of the day just ignore all the snobbery and BS surrounding wine, or any other drink for that matter.  It's is purely an individuals choice and perception of what is good to drink, which at the end of the day a good wine is the one that you yourself enjoy drinking.  The same pomposity exists in the coffee drinking world, I don't drink coffee so can not make any preference but there are a few million who again consider that their own specific tastes are the only ones that should matter.

[redwood1]

 

Laughing Bird is the only wine I drink (dry red).....This wine use to be a fantastic value 3-4 years ago before they raised the prices for wine over and over.......Now its like 650 baht for 1.5 liter..

 

 I still buy it  but only occasionally now....

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by redwood1

[Lemsta69]

27 minutes ago, Excel said:

At the end of the day just ignore all the snobbery and BS surrounding wine, or any other drink for that matter.  It's is purely an individuals choice and perception of what is good to drink, which at the end of the day a good wine is the one that you yourself enjoy drinking.  The same pomposity exists in the coffee drinking world, I don't drink coffee so can not make any preference but there are a few million who again consider that their own specific tastes are the only ones that should matter.

sounds like you've never had a decent bottle of wine in your life. I'm a beer-swilling peasant but even i can taste the difference between a glass of Mont Clair and something slightly better. 

[Excel]

18 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

sounds like you've never had a decent bottle of wine in your life. I'm a beer-swilling peasant but even i can taste the difference between a glass of Mont Clair and something slightly better. 

In one breath you mention a decent bottle of wine and in the next you compare the difference between Mont Clair and something else. Clearly your beer swilling has affected your comprehension of what I actually said. But never mind, back to your bar stool with your mates. What's your other favorite subject you know nothing about, Golf ?????

[Orinoco]

1 hour ago, Lemsta69 said:

cheap feces is the order of the day on this website. run by poor people for poor people ????

Oh dear,  it's all gone  pete-tong.

Where's that glass of 1960 Sandeman crusted  Port. 

 

[Nickelbeer]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Thai rum such as Sangsom and Hong Thong is less than half the price one would pay in Australia. I don't know what the tax is here for spirits, but it's brutal in Oz.

You are correct on the Rum and the Thai whisky, but I don’t drink either, so I don’t count them. I am strictly a beer drinker and it is no bargain here.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, redwood1 said:

 

Laughing Bird is the only wine I drink (dry red).....This wine use to be a fantastic value 3-4 years ago before they raised the prices for wine over and over.......Now its like 650 baht for 1.5 liter..

 

 I still buy it  but only occasionally now....

 

I thought about trying that a while ago, but then discovered it was a Fruit Wine, although it had some grape content, so didn't bother as the fruit wines for whatever reason, give me a headache!!

[jaywalker2]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Esoteric Thai wines? But you'll buy the cheap feces...got it.

 

2 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

cheap feces is the order of the day on this website. run by poor people for poor people ????

It's a wonder you rich people would want to go slumming then. You must be really lonely.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, redwood1 said:

 

Laughing Bird is the only wine I drink (dry red).....This wine use to be a fantastic value 3-4 years ago before they raised the prices for wine over and over.......Now its like 650 baht for 1.5 liter..

 

 I still buy it  but only occasionally now....

 

It's an irrigated wine from the NSW Riverina. A passable drop with a steak, a bit metallic. Made by Cranswick Wines, another bulk producer. 650 baht for 1.5 litres is actually reasonable for Thailand.

[Walker88]

6 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Have you been able to find a source for good quality pinot noir here? I have not. In California I get very good quality single vineyard Sonoma wines for $50. Here? Difficult to find, and way, way overpriced. 

 

 

 

 

I'll have a glass of that port, if you don't mind.

[xylophone]

4 hours ago, Excel said:

Never forget who owns the Thai vineyards. Possibly the most well known is Monsoon Valley, owned by the Red Bull heir Chalerm Yoovidhya, so don't blame me if you notice some similarities between their wines and their energy drinks. ???? 

That is more likely the reason that the exorbitant taxes are put on imported wines, to protect the producers of Thai wines, as the powerful in the Thai hierarchy hold great sway/influence on the way things are – – especially in protecting their wealth.

[Excel]

Just now, xylophone said:

That is more likely the reason that the exorbitant taxes are put on imported wines, to protect the producers of Thai wines, as the powerful in the Thai hierarchy hold great sway/influence on the way things are – – especially in protecting their wealth.

You could well be right.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

It's an irrigated wine from the NSW Riverina. A passable drop with a steak, a bit metallic. Made by Cranswick Wines, another bulk producer. 650 baht for 1.5 litres is actually reasonable for Thailand.

And they are a producer of fruit wines and the last time I looked at a bottle of the Laughing Bird dry red, it did have that notation on the back label.

 

And as for "irrigated wines", well, provided the irrigation is controlled/regulated, then there is no problem with it, this especially as many countries do allow controlled irrigation (even Chile) and whereas at one time it was frowned upon in France, it is now an accepted part, especially in the south where the hot summers can really bite. 
 

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, xylophone said:

And they are a producer of fruit wines and the last time I looked at a bottle of the Laughing Bird dry red, it did have that notation on the back label.

 

And as for "irrigated wines", well, provided the irrigation is controlled/regulated, then there is no problem with it, this especially as many countries do allow controlled irrigation (even Chile) and whereas at one time it was frowned upon in France, it is now an accepted part, especially in the south where the hot summers can really bite. 
 

I used to drink quite a bit of irrigated wines from the Griffith area, passable. Would load up there on my way back from hunting trips.

They don't match up to the vineyards that rely on natural rainfall. Having said that, the wine is a fairly standard product year by year. OTOH, non-irrigated vineyards can be a gamble, terrible one year and superb the next.

The best wine I have ever had - and it was only $15 a bottle from the cellar door - was Booth's 1990 Premium Shiraz. Once it was opened, there was no stopping until the bottle was empty.

Cliffy Booth was the winemaker, how he made those hypnotic Shiraz is a secret that died with him.

[xylophone]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I used to drink quite a bit of irrigated wines from the Griffith area, passable. Would load up there on my way back from hunting trips.

They don't match up to the vineyards that rely on natural rainfall. Having said that, the wine is a fairly standard product year by year. OTOH, non-irrigated vineyards can be a gamble, terrible one year and superb the next.

The best wine I have ever had - and it was only $15 a bottle from the cellar door - was Booth's 1990 Premium Shiraz. Once it was opened, there was no stopping until the bottle was empty.

Cliffy Booth was the winemaker, how he made those hypnotic Shiraz is a secret that died with him.

Agree with all of the above, and some irrigation does allow for a certainty of outcome without diminishing the quality of the end product, provided as I said previously, it is regulated.

 

As regards the Riverina, where irrigation is de rigueur, I have found that even amongst the wineries in that area, some wines really stand out, whereas others are just plain average and good for the everyday swigging wine.

 

On a separate note, and as some of the posts have been about good Australian wines and those available at the cellar door, I remember visiting relatives in Melbourne and going to the winery of Dr Bailey Carrodus who produced some excellent wine called Yarra Yering, and buying a few bottles of it (Dry Red number 1 and number 2 as I recall) to take home to NZ, and this was in 1987 or 1988, and I held onto it for a few years and thought it was a very good wine indeed, and I should have bought a lot more at the time!

[Lacessit]

5 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Agree with all of the above, and some irrigation does allow for a certainty of outcome without diminishing the quality of the end product, provided as I said previously, it is regulated.

 

As regards the Riverina, where irrigation is de rigueur, I have found that even amongst the wineries in that area, some wines really stand out, whereas others are just plain average and good for the everyday swigging wine.

 

On a separate note, and as some of the posts have been about good Australian wines and those available at the cellar door, I remember visiting relatives in Melbourne and going to the winery of Dr Bailey Carrodus who produced some excellent wine called Yarra Yering, and buying a few bottles of it (Dry Red number 1 and number 2 as I recall) to take home to NZ, and this was in 1987 or 1988, and I held onto it for a few years and thought it was a very good wine indeed, and I should have bought a lot more at the time!

That's always the regret of wine lovers, I should have bought more. Had that thought quite a few times.

[Lemsta69]

4 hours ago, Excel said:

In one breath you mention a decent bottle of wine and in the next you compare the difference between Mont Clair and something else. Clearly your beer swilling has affected your comprehension of what I actually said. But never mind, back to your bar stool with your mates. What's your other favorite subject you know nothing about, Golf ?????

no miscomprehension on my part. there's a difference between poor quality and the good stuff. not up to the individual. 

[bristolgeoff]

From what i know wine has always being high in taxes in thailand.It is a luxury item for some.I  stick to sangsom and have a wine on a special ocassion.The local stuff is cheaper and can make you drunk just ask thais in the village on that.

[Lacessit]

13 minutes ago, bristolgeoff said:

From what i know wine has always being high in taxes in thailand.It is a luxury item for some.I  stick to sangsom and have a wine on a special ocassion.The local stuff is cheaper and can make you drunk just ask thais in the village on that.

The local stuff is about 10 baht for a small bottle. MY GF buys it in 2 litre containers and divides it up for sale.

I don't know what the alcohol content is. It burns when lit with a match, so it is more than 50% alcohol by volume. My best guess from tasting it is about 80%, double that of Sangsom.

Lao Khao consumption is also mostly responsible for village idiots, due to fetal alcohol syndrome.

[SteveBull]

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

Both Grahams and Taylors Late bottled Vintage and Ruby ports are available in better wine shops, Tops being one of them, and I would think that Wine Connection would also have them. However as I said in another post, I get mine from a local importer and distributor and they are just as good as those, and just having checked again, can be bought for 800 baht a bottle.

Tops ? I have two of them near me, large stores the size of a large Tesco's/Lotus but both have told me Tops do not have a license to sell alcohol ? Where is your Tops out of interest?