• 
• 

Published on September 2, 2007

Shelf space allotted to French wines, for example, would indicate heavy spending, while Spain does little - in spite of being one of the world's largest producers. Of course, shelf space as a measure of promotional effort is not necessarily accurate.

France is awash with lower-priced wine and is desperate to find offshore markets to drink it. It basks in the deserved glow of its great burgundies and bordeaux, which help keep many marginal vintages on the shelves.

Domestic consumption throughout the European Union of its lower-priced wine makes global exports less imperative.

After reinventing its industry over the past twenty years, there is what seems an insatiable appetite in Thailand for Italian-style food and drink. Australia with its small population and big production is, by nature, a wine exporter; as well as being a sort of geographic neighbour.

When the hotel-and-restaurant side of the sales equation is calculated, the Italians and the Aussies are fighting for most of our wine money. As a regular on the wine-dinner circuit, I can attest to Italian fare and libations dominating.

Australia balances that with much-higher retail sales, thanks largely to its experience in producing drinkable, everyday table wines at reasonable prices.

Another tasting at the Plaza Athenee last week further validated Thailand's preference for upscale Italian wines. Piedmont producer Bava - handled locally by Italthai Food and Beverage - showed off their wares. The stellar wines of Bava are made from barbera grapes, the counterpart of Piedmont's more heralded nebbiolo, which I covered in a recent column. Barbera yields a deep-purple juice similar to nebbiolo, but with substantially less natural tannin. With solid acids and high yields, it easily adapts to various climates throughout Italy, but produces  best results in Piedmont as attested to by Bava's lower-priced "Libera" Barbera d'Asti. Plums and cherries dominate the nose; it has a medium body and is pleasant throughout the mouth. It is a quaffing wine to be enjoyed without fanfare.

Not so the crown of Bava's barberas - the '97 "Stradivario", replete with an impression of the famous violin on its label. Oozing ripe black cherry, liquorice and hints of tar, this is a beautifully balanced, mouth-filling wine made from older, single-vineyard vines. Winner of many accolades, this is a collectors' item and represents the best that can come from barbera grapes. Like many other premium Italian wines, Bava is sold exclusively in restaurants or direct from the distributor.

The reverse is true of most Australian wines, no doubt due to the dearth of what could be called Australian restaurants in Thailand. More on these wine dichotomies and Thailand's love affair with Italian wine and food later.

For Bava wines from Italthai, call (02) 318 1617. For Plaza Athenee events, (02) 650 8800.