Everyone loves Thai food, but what about the wines? Central Thailand winery is worth exploring
- Three of the best food-friendly wines from GranMonte, a pioneer in the Thai wine industry
The country’s cuisine is popular around the world but mention Thai wine and you will most likely be met with a blank look. Good Thai wine is hard to come by but one producer that has risen to the challenge is GranMonte.
The family-owned winery is located in the Khao Yai National Park, in central Thailand, and its 15-hectare vineyard is planted with syrah, cabernet sauvignon, chenin blanc, viognier, semillon, verdelho, durif and grenache. Winemaker Nikki Lohitnavy, a second-generation family member, graduated from Australia’s University of Adelaide with a degree in oenology, and her winemaking experience has been earned in Bordeaux, the Loire and the Rhône in France, South Africa, Venezuela and Brazil.
GranMonte is situated at 350 metres, and the elevation helps preserve acidity in the grapes. The challenges winemakers in tropical climates face include humidity, heat and fluctuating yields. Plus the cost of production is higher than in traditional wine regions.
“The work is double in tropical vineyards because we have to prune the vines twice a year for only one harvest,” Lohitnavy says. “Finding skilled workers is also a challenge.
“Thailand doesn’t have a strong wine culture and it has been a challenge to sell Thai wines locally,” she adds. “GranMonte does well within our niche of wine lovers, five-plus star hotels and restaurants, and young professionals seeking new gastronomic experiences.”
In terms of style, the winemaker says she aims to produce wines that are “versatile, elegant, fruit-forward, expressive of tropical wine characteristics”. GranMonte wines are food-friendly, embodying “Thai culture, a melting pot of many different cultures”.
GranMonte has won awards in Europe and Asia, proving that non-traditional wine regions are capable of producing wines of international quality.
