Wine Partners for Thai Food
By Laurence Civil
In Thailand where beer is so much more affordable than wine due to the wide difference in the level of taxations from a pure value for money point of view it's hard to recommend drinking wine with Thai food. But from a dining perspective it's essential to complete the overall experience.
Thai food is sauce and spice rather than ingredient driven so those are what we should consider rather what will and what will not match together. The effect of oak used in wine making aggravates rather than balances the spiciness of the food. So it looks as if a New World wine made in stainless steel its most likely the match. I have found that generally a crisp fruitiness of a sauvignon blanc matches the climate and the food.
Before looking at imported wines lets first explore the possibilities of Thai Wines with Thai Food. The first wine grapes were planted in Thailand at Loei in 1991 then in Khao Yai in 1993 and there are currently seven vineyards in producing grape wine. The vines are still young and have yet to reach the maturity to produce the best fruit possible however they are producing some drinkable wines.
The Monsoon Valley range of wines was created by winemaker Laurent Metge-Toppin was determined to make a different style of wine, a new style of wine, a blend of Thai varietal, especially created to complement spicy Thai food.
The grapes for the red wines are grown in the mountainous vineyards on the Pak Chong hills, that is becoming recognized as Thailand's prime county for planting internationally known varietals. In this cooler climate region are the vineyards planted with Shiraz and Colombard grapes, yielding a crop, which brings depth and structure to the wines.
Janice Robinson MW, an internationally recognised wine writer was suitable impressed with these wines. "Now, if you look closely enough," she wrote "you'll notice that the floating vineyards are not actually on water, but simply that the vines are planted on little rectangular isles which are separated by canals."
"This type of vineyard has given Siam Winery wine a unique character which is at the root of its worldwide success. But that is not all. To stand out in this ultra-competitive market, the winery has had to differentiate itself by creating a new style of wine, which has its own unique Thai character."
"In contrast to other Thai wineries, Siam winery does not work exclusively with Shiraz or Chenin Blanc grapes, but primarily uses local (traditional) grapes such as White Malaga and Red Pok Dum."
The white wine is made from a local Malaga Blanc grape variety, with its exotic aromas of lemongrass and watermelon; it is the perfect complement for green curries. The red is velvety and medium-bodied, and is made from a blend of Pokdom, Shiraz and Black Muscat varieties. It would be best suited accompanying a Duck curry or perhaps a peppery seafood dish. And, when the local Malaga Blanc, Pokdom and Black Muscat grapes are macerated and fermented together, they produce a refreshing rosé.
I think that the best Thai wine made to date is a Monsoon Valley 2548 using 100% Colombard grape from the Pak Chong Hills in Nakhon Ratchasima province. It has a yellow green colour fresh ripen fruit gooseberry with floral nose, of medium length with distinctive character. Clean, dry very floral honey suckles impression on the palate. It tastes very similar to a French style Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley.
That vintage showed but can be achieved but such is the nature of farming that rain destroyed the crop this year there are no grapes to make this wine. As an alternative try the Chenin Blanc from either PB Valley or Grande Monte.
So which foreign wines work well with Thai food? The Hardy Stamp Semillon Chardonnay has a Pale straw in colour with tinges of light green and brilliant clarity. There are intense aromas of citrus blossom, melon, pear and peach with some spicy characters. The palate is medium bodied with rich flavours of citrus, melon and sweet spice, complex with soft oak. This wine has an elegant mouth feel, with a lovely lingering finish. We compared a glass of this wine with Monsoon's Colombard, the colour was almost identical, the Colombard stood up better to the Thai food while the was the more pleasant of the two without food.
Beringer Johanisberg Reisling from the Napa Valley has a luscious, fleshy quality of a ripe, juicy peach or apricot at the height of the season, but with a counterbalancing zesty citrus flavor and crispness. Drunk alone there is the taste of soft fruit in the mouth, they having eaten some Thai fruit, the natural sugar in the wine balances the spiciness of food making the wine taste more elegant.
Chile is producing some excellent value for money wines. One that we found worked well with Thai Food was Undurraga Sauvignon Blanc. Five generations of the Undurraga family have managed one of Chile's oldest wineries maintaining tradition while successfully expanding the vineyards and modernizing the wine cellars. Their vineyards are in the Maipo Valley and Colchagua Valley south of Santiago. The 2004 Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and lively with floral and gooseberry flavours.
Another is the Sauvignon Blanc produced by Vina Santa Carolina one of Chile's leading quality wine makers. The wine has a mid lemon colour with vibrant green tints. Intense aromas of exotic fruit and also a subtle grassy touch. It's a clean, juicy and mouth-filling wine matching both the food and the climate.
But the finest Sauvignon Blanc in the world is from the New Zealand's Marlborough Region. We recently enjoyed a Hunter's Sauvignon Blanc that gives fresh, direct fruit flavours with only a hint of grass. Complex on the nose, with aromas of melon and dust as well as fresh cut grass, its full body offers an intensity of flavor and a grip of spice. Although it lacks that gutsy acid we expect to see from Marlborough area wines that's as advantage as its acidity multiplies the strength the chilli effect there a reduced acidity work well when paring wines with Thai food.
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