Thai wine takes a bow

Following its successful harvest of the 2012 vintage, Visooth Lohitnavy, founder of the GranMonte Vineyard in Khao Yai, led his team early this month to Bordeaux, France where they attended Chateau Angelus of Saint-Emilion’s En Primeur 2011 at the invitation of the famed winery for the third consecutive year. 

Showcasing wines made from grapes of the previous year, En Primeur 2011 took place at the newly renovated second domaine “La Fleur de Bouard “ in Lalande de Pomerol, not far from Chateau Angelus in Saint-Emilion. This year, the guest list featured 39 French Chateaux and four foreign wineries, GranMonte included. 

On this occasion, Hubert de Bouard, the owner of Chateau Angelus, unveiled before the press and visiting wine professionals his estate’s newly invented wine making equipment: cup-shaped vinification tanks hanging from the ceiling in the oak barrel room and the grape reception hall. There’s also a new multi-million-euro laboratory. 

At the En Primeur, the GranMonte people – Visooth, his wife Sakuna, and their two daughters Nikki and Mimi – were also presenting their 2011 vintage wines, The Orient Syrah, Sole Chenin Blanc/Viognier and Sakuna Rose Syrah, to the approximately 2,000 wine writers/critics and professionals. Among these visitors were regulars who tasted the earlier vintages in the past two years and who commented on the high quality of the 2011 vintage wines.

During their five-day stay in Bordeaux, Visooth and Sakuna were invited by Gildas d’Ollone, former general manager of Pichon Comtesse de Lalande to visit a number of well-known Chateaux both on the right and left banks of the Gironde from Medoc to Graves. These included Chateau Cheval-Blanc and Chateau Lagrange where the tasting of many 2011 vintage wines of the left bank such as those from Chateau Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac and the likes, took place.

There was also a side trip to Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits, which are part of Cote d’Or in Burgundy’s world renowned wine region for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This trip was led by Emmanuel Desuremain whose parents own Chateau de Monthelie in the village of the same name. Desuremain, a banker, later helped organise a surprise visit to Domaine Romanee-Conti where he used to work in 1987. The visit ended with a meeting with winemaker Bernard Noblet who kindly took them into his cellar for a tasting of 2010 vintage wines from a few barrels.

Other interesting domaines visited were Olivier Leflaive, Louis Latour, Chateau de Pommard, Clos de Vougeot and the historical Hospices de Beaune, a former charitable almshouse and one of the finest examples of French fifteenth-century architecture,

The Lohitnavys managed to give a surprise to some of the winemakers there by giving them a taste of Sakuna Syrah Rosé 2011.

Perhaps Nikki, the only female Thai winemaker, could end up gaining work experience at some of these domaines later this year.