Hua Hin Vineyards launch three very special Monsoon Valley wines
On the strength of its aristocratic connections and thriving dining scene, Hua Hin is being touted as the oenologist's sanctum. Specialist wine outlets like Mondo Vino and Central Wine shop have recently opened in town and gourmands can now enjoy special dinners at many of the resort's five-star hotels, many of them showcasing the wines from Hua Hin Hills Vineyard owned by Siam Winery.
In an attempt to raise Hua Hin's profile as a gourmet destination, Anantara Resort & Spa Hua Hin recently launched the limited edition Monsoon Valley Wine series, an event that sent ripples across Hua Hin's food and wine landscape.
Marking the convergence of luxury living, art and wine, the event unveiled three limited edition wines from Siam Winery, which feature on their labels paintings by Australian Chris Hogan, currently Anantara's artist in residence. The vintage is given in the Buddhist era for the first time in the Thai wine-making history.
"As our philosophy at Anantara is to immerse our guests into the local culture, we invited Siam Winery, the makers of Monsoon Valley Wine, to have a wine tasting one night in the gardens of the resort. The evening was such a success with the guests fully endorsing the wine, we jokingly said it would be great to bottle the feeling of the whole evening. And here we are a year later launching three limited edition wines inspired by that very first evening," says Tim Boda, the resort's general manager.
The wines are part of the resort's vast wine collection, inspired by the popular resort's lush tropical gardens and Thailand's attractive marine life. Designed by Bangkok-based landscape designer Bill Bensley, Anantara consists of five distinct sub-gardens; the white garden, the heliconia garden, the red garden, the palm garden (featuring no less than 60 species) and the yellow garden.
The grapes of the three limited edition wines -- a white shiraz (Thailand's first take on fermenting shiraz into a white wine!), a red shiraz and a colombard -- are grown at the Hua Hin Hills Vineyard and vinified at Siam Winery. The three wines are set to complement Thai dishes. The food and wine pairings took place at the vineyard's, with five dishes in bite sizes were carefully coupled with five types of wine, including the three launched at Anantara.
The first dish was deep-fried sea bass with aromatic Thai herbs and sweet tamarind sauce, partnered with Monsoon Valley Blended White 2009. It's a light-bodied fresh fruity wine that has notes of citrus and a melony character.
Next up was phad Thai with prawns and crispy crackers washed down with Monsoon Valley Blended Rose 2009, a fruity wine, light and crisp with berry and mango flavours.
The third dish - seared scallop in chilli paste with salad and crispy noodles - was served with Monsoon Valley White Shiraz 2009, one of its flagship wines, which has hints of red fruits.
This was followed with panang curry with pork, deep-fried sticky rice and aromatic Thai herbs, which was matched with Monsoon Valley Blended Red 2008, a soft-textured wine with notes of red berry fruit.
The last dish was steamed rice with grape leaves partnered with Monsoon Valley Shiraz 2008, with ripe plum aromas and coffee notes. Then a Colombard, a perfumed wine with aromas of grapefruit, guava and passion fruit.
Guests found the limited edition wine series very drinker-friendly at Anantara's launch party. Artist Chris Hogan, Boda and Anantara's assistant PR director Mark Thompson joined forces with Siam Winery's Wachtveitl in celebrating the auspicious occasion.
The wine label launch has confirmed that with Hua Hin's burgeoning wining and dining scene, Thai wines will certainly have a long way to go.
Who is Chris Hogan?
Born in Brisbane, raised in Cairns, Christopher Hogan is an international artist, designer and visual communicator. Borrowing from nature, he uses macro images of marine life, the rainforest and the Australian outback to create his contemporary abstract paintings.
His work is defined as "Harmoniously merging classically conservative design with innovative flair that allows each project to have its own identity while forming a visual narrative", with his original paintings and sculptures gracing the world's most discerning homes, corporate offices and five star resorts.
At Anantara Hua Hin, he recently led abstract painting classes for guests wishing to discover their artistic side. He introduced his students, who included visiting media members, to the basics of abstract painting, drawing on the theme of marine life, emphasised imagination, adaptation, flexibility and personal styles in creating the work of art.
Hogan is now packing for a visit to Anantara Maldives where he's conducting exclusive art classes from September 12 to December 12 before returning to Thailand as artist-in-residence at Anantara Hua Hin from December 15 to January and at Anantara Phuket Villas from January 29 to March 19.