Monsoon Valley, Asia's leading wines by Thailand's top wine producer Siam Winery, has enjoyed another year of success receiving more than 40 awards and medals at international wine competitions over the past 12 months.
Hua Hin Hills vineyards in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
The competitions include Decanter World Wine Awards, UK; AWC Vienna International Wine Challenge, Austria; Mundus Vini International Wine Awards, Germany; International Wine & Spirit Competition, UK; Decanter Asia Wine Awards, Japan; FBAT International Wine Challenge, Thailand; and Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition.
A celebration of the prestigious awards was recently held at the State Room at Le Bua State Tower. The event welcomed some 100 respected guests and oenophiles to an exclusive wine pairing dinner, which highlighted five of the award-wining labels: 2012 Sparkling Brut Blanc de Blanc, 2013 White Shiraz, 2010 Cuvee de Siam Rouge, 2013 Blended White and 2014 Colombard.
Monsoon Valley, which was first launched in 2003, is a "new latitude wine" made from selected grapes grown at Hua Hin Hills vineyard in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. The wine is crafted by Siam Winery's German winemaker Kathrin Puff, beautifully blending Old World values with a New World enthusiasm.
"Before coming to Thailand, I had worked for seven years in Italy, Spain and New Zealand. So when I first came here, although I thought it was a good challenge, I was quite sceptical," said Puff.
"Yet, over the past 12 years I've been with Siam Winery, one of my great driving forces has been the passion and belief of the winery's owner Chalerm Yoovidhya. He told me on the very first day we met that he wanted to create not just Thai wine but a Thai wine legacy that will be lasting, hoping that Thailand would become a wine country perhaps in a hundred years."
The female winemaker admitted that, because of the closer geographic location to the Equator, the severe climate and much lower light intensity that allows only a few grape varietals to be grown, when it comes to viticulture in Thailand, the challenges are huge. But she has never given up, and as she's digging deep into the past, she also looks far ahead into the future.
"Many things I have studied in winemaking couldn't be applied here," added Puff. "The new latitude wines teach the right to be wrong. They turn the wine world upside down. So I often have to think outside of the box.
"I have a very young and dynamic team. We have come a long way and have experienced failures, sometimes it's really frustrating. And when we see good results at the end, it's extremely rewarding. It's the reason why we do it."
The award-winning Monsoon Valley wines were blind tasted against other products from well-established wine countries. Yet they have fetched Thailand an extensive list of gold, silver and bronze medals, as well as seals of approval and trophies.
"Let's think that the first vineyard in Thailand started in 1982 and that Monsoon Valley's first plantation was just built in 2001. So compared to thousands of years of wisdom of the Old World wine, Thai wine is very young. And now we are competing internationally and winning high-ranking awards. The future of Thai wine is looking very bright," said Puff.
Kathrin Puff at work creating award-winning wines.
