A toast to Lamoon landing

AUSTRALIAN WINEMAKER Jacob’s Creek has a new multi-varietal red called Lamoon that goes with pretty much all of the classic Thai dishes. Building on the success of Jacob’s Creek Wah, its first wine tailor-made to go with food, which was launched in Japan last March, Australia’s best-selling wine turns to Thai cuisine, no small challenge as a match-up.
Lamoon in Thai means a soft, balanced flavour or texture, and this wine earns the designation.
“Thai cuisine has five major flavour components – sour, sweet, salty, hot spiciness and fresh herbs,” chef Ian Kittichai told us at the Sukhothai Hotel, where he was showing the Bangkok Jacob’s Creek team how well their product fits in here.
“Different parts of Thailand use different ingredients to get specific tastes,” Ian said. “For example, for sourness, Isaan food uses lime juice and acidic leaves, while in the North they use oranges and sometimes dried ingredients, like dried tamarind. These are different sour tangs, with a different feel in the mouth and different scents.
“Somehow Jacob’s Creek Lamoon can match a broad variety of Thai dishes, and I was really surprised when I first tried it.”
Ian prepared several dishes commonly enjoyed in Thai homes. There was kiew waan gai (green curry with chicken), kaprao gai (stir-fried chicken with holy basil), yum woon sen ta lae (vermicelli spicy salad with seafood), stir-fried mix vegetables, deep-fried crispy fish with sweet, sour and spicy sauce and tom yum goong, the famous spicy prawn soup.
Thai food has always resisted overtures from wine, prompting many gourmands to give up trying and instead opt for other beverages to have with their meals. The main stumbling block is that Thais prefer their meals to have a wide mix of flavours and textures. If they want to have wine when they’re eating, they’re more likely to order Western dishes.
But Lamoon might start changing that attitude. This affordable, good-quality wine goes well with all of our favourite spicy, herbed dishes.
“What’s new about this wine is that it’s a blend of certain flavour profiles that can be matched across several dishes,” explained Bernard Hickin, the head winemaker at Jacob’s Creek. “And it’s important that it be red because wine consumers in Thailand prefer red wine. But it has to be a very soft red, not full-bodied.
“With the flavour profile of this wine, you can have it with red meat and white meat. Chill it for half an hour in the fridge and enjoy it with your Thai food feast!”
Lamoon is the product of six different grapes that harmonise beautifully with one another. You notice a lively raspberry aroma at the nose, balanced with hints of musk and spice, while the palate is treated to luscious yet delicate berry flavours and soft, silky tannins.
The tannins and subtle spice notes work well with richer, stronger flavours, while the cleansing berry flavours accommodate the chilli intensity of Thai cuisine.