WHY WINE
CHATEAU D'O
A few months ago a couple of new wines hit the market in Thailand. These were American wines but made to suit the Thai palate, whatever that means. These came under the name of Peter Vella, a winemaker for one of the largest wineries in the world, Gallo of Modesto, California.
At first I naively thought that Peter Vella was a fictitious character, like chef Buitoni or Mavis Beacon, the star of a computer typing programme; people write letters to her, and want to marry her, although she does not exist. But Peter Vella does exist and even came to Bangkok on a rainy day to launch his new venture with Siam Winery.
In the US Peter Vella means first of all a lot of wine for little money. His wine sells in five-litre boxes and rarely costs more than $10 (330 baht which would come to about 50 baht per bottle; hard to beat indeed). This is picnic wine, light in alcohol - the white Zinfandel, for instance, barely reaches 8 percent.
If you take a look at the Peter Vella website, you'll find that a few words occur again and again, such as smooth and easy to enjoy. The Chablis "goes with just about everything" and the White Zin is good with "Chinese potstickers or everyone's favourite, pigs in a blanket." One critic describes these boxes as "for starving college students looking to buy a massive quantity of wine for not much money."
Well, you won't get wine at 50 baht a bottle in Thailand any time soon, but I purchased my Peter Vella 2006 Classic White for 299 baht, and it is available in many shops in Bangkok. I also saw it in Chiang Mai.
So what does it offer, and what is that famous "Thai taste"? I opened the bottle with a Thai friend so I could get a local palate to enlighten me. Since my good friend Ithi also has some Chinese roots I thought that maybe he knew a thing or two about Chinese potstickers. I'm still in the dark about the potstickers, probably a California college speciality.
Made of chardonnay, the wine is light (11.5 percent) with a fruity and sweet flavour and a very discreet finish. Is it good? I would say it's not bad, better than expected and we agreed that it would not disgrace a garden party or a big BBQ where people like to drink but don't really pay much attention to what they drink.
But why insist on a cork? If Chateau Margaux is studying the possibility of using screwcaps, I don't see why the more modest Peter Vella could not do so too. For an outdoor wine, the cap would be perfect. When I try the Classic Red (made of cabernet sauvignon) I'll let you know what I think.
Talking of Siam Winery, I was having dinner a few days ago with friends from California at Siam@Siam. This relatively new hotel offers great design (look for that car in the lobby) and a pleasant restaurant. It is located on Rama 1 Road, almost in front of the National Stadium.
On sale that evening was a 2007 Shiraz from Siam Winery. Curious to see the reactions of these wine-drinking experimental musicians, I ordered a bottle. Nobody knew it was a genuine Thai wine and everybody loved it. It cost us 800 baht a bottle (a bargain in a restaurant) and the wine was wonderfully fresh, restrained on the fruity side, with much of the character of this versatile, peppery grape. Make sure it is not too warm (15-16 degrees).
It was a nice surprise for my guests who were unaware that there was such a thing as Thai wine. The wine has already won a couple of awards in France and the UK. But hurry, there aren't many bottles left.
Email: chateaudo377@gmail.com
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