Thailand A wine lover's guide

Tropical Thailand may not seem like the obvious destination for wine buffs, but the local wines are starting to win awards and Bangkok’s burgeoning wine scene is also accruing accolades

- TRISTAN RUTHERFORD

By day, visitors to GranMonte winery in the Asoke valley in central Thailand can stroll past 12 wine grape varieties, cycle to a Michelin-rated restaurant, or sample a zingy Viognier; at night, elephants have been known to trample through the estate’s 14ha of vines. Further south, near some of Thailand’s popular golden beaches, sits Monsoon Valley winery, where swooping hornbills nest in empty oak barrels hung from ficus trees near rows of Shiraz vines. Welcome to wine tasting, Thai-style.

Now is a particularly good time for travelling wine lovers to visit Thailand, as in January the Thai government removed or reduced all of the taxes and excises on wine until the end of the year (although there’s hope the cuts will be extended into next year), including the swingeing 54%-60% tax on imported wine, in the hope of stimulating the tourism industry.

Thailand’s wine industry effectively began in the 1980s as a royal project aimed at weaning rural growers off opium production. Word around the wineries is that, thanks to constant innovation and deep pockets (the Red Bull and Singha beverage families are big investors), this sun-kissed nation now produces about a million bottles of wine per year.

Because this annual production is mostly consumed at vineyards set up for tourism, such as GranMonte and Monsoon Valley, it can be tricky to find the wines outside the country. Fortunately, every Thai winery is a destination in its own right where you can enjoy traditional activities such as wine tasting and fine dining, or try something more adventurous – maybe a 4x4 safari or mountain bike ride around one of the wildliferich estates. Tours offer a viticultural education that’s not to be found at any other commercial vineyard in the wine world.

TROPICAL TRAITS