Local wisdom

When Thailand is mentioned, what comes to people’s minds is its bright and vibrant tropical scenery. Crystal blue sea water shimmers beside beaches, with tall palm trees swaying gently in the breeze. Gilded Buddhist temples nestle among urban streets and lanes, their golden spires glittering under the sun. Street corners fill with the rich aroma of tom yum goong and mango sticky rice. Bustling night markets glow with countless lights. Winemaking in such a tropical and tourists focused country seems to be the least thing came across to most people’s minds, yet Thailand do have a small, yet modern wine making industry. I visited there recently and had a fun time making many new discoveries.

According to various reports, grapes had been introduced to Thailand when the French embassy personnel sent by Louis XIV presented specimens of White Malaga (Beba) to King Narai in seventeenth century. But the grapes were used solely for fruit, table grape, purposes over the next couple hundred years. Making wine wasn’t on the radar then. And according to Tony (no last name given!) the owner and winemaker from Alcidini winery in Thailand northeast of Bangkok, there are some wild, local grapes in Thailand. These grapes may have been brought over to the country from nearby other southeast Asian countries a long time ago. But these grapes has very small berries and are very acidic, with lots of leaves growing on the vines providing shade such that the berries have trouble ripening. Also, their flavours do not appear suitable for the wine consumers of today, or at the very least, their wines would require even more effort to succeed in the marketplace. With the effort and local wisdom of some local wine pioneers, some Vitis vinifera and hybrid grape varieties had been propagated since the 1970s-1980s.