In eastern Thailand, some two and a half hours northeast of the capital city of Bangkok, sits the country's third largest national park, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Khao Yai. In its entirety it is a 2,168 square kilometer tropical forest and grassland, with mountainous ranges, valleys, waterfalls, and everything in between. Khao Yai has long been a spot for urban city folk and tourists to trek its nature trails, camp, visit local farms and markets, feast on hearty countryside fare with exotic tropical fruits such as longans, jackfruits and papayas, and even spot the occasional family of elephants or even admire the indigenous hornbills.

 

Image Credit: Parit Kengsungnoen

 

Yet into the 1990's, Khao Yai found itself suddenly Thailand's promised land for a new geography of wine called New Latitude wines - funnily enough, the term itself was coined by Thailand-based wine writer Frank Norel. Situated at 14.3 degrees North, the national park falls within the traditional band (above 50 degrees and below 30 degrees in latitude) within which it was long thought impossible to make wines. In theory, the world map has two wine belts, a northern band that covers predominantly North America, Western Europe, China and Japan, and a southern band that accounts for Chile and Argentina, South Africa, and Australia and New Zealand - all countries any wine lover would be familiar with.

 

 

Yet, countries like Thailand, Vietnam and India, and even England and parts of the Nordics, have all begun to demonstrate that they too can produce serious contenders. Yet, this isn't simply a matter of solving for lack of expertise or financial resources, the biggest issue with tropical climates in particular is that on top of the warmth (or being overly cold), humidity, heavy (or the lack thereof) sun exposures and intense monsoon seasons (or inversely dry spells), vines planted here bear fruit twice a year, which in turn exhausts the vines, affecting both the fruit produced and its lifespan. However, with the advent of climate change and in truth sheer force of will, several New Latitude champions have fought against all odds to emerge - Thailand's GranMonte leads that pack.

In 1999, the retiring Visooth Lohitnavy had decided to make his wine-making dreams come true and would thus purchase a 12 hectare plot of land in the Asoke Valley just around the northern tip of the Khao Yai National Park. The land had been used to plant corn and cashews, yet Lohitnavy knew exactly what he had wanted to achieve here, and would thus immediately get started on the laborious and time intense work of setting down European imported rootstocks and vines.

 

Visooth and Sakuna Lohitnavy.

  

As a young man, Lohitnavy had been amongst the crop of Thai youths who were sent abroad to pursue education, with himself having been sent to Germany to study automotive engineering. Lohitnavy would eventually go on to pursue a high flying corporate career that ranged from German automobile manufacturer BMW, to the Bangkok-based National Travel Service, and eventually climbed the ranks of British services company Rentokil Initial (and Wellcome). Yet his time in Germany was deeply formative and would plant the first seeds in Lohitnavy's heart this desire to make wines. "I was enamoured with the picturesque views of the vineyards [in Germany]. I also preferred drinking wine to beer, but I couldn't afford a bottle of wine at the time. A longing to own a winery might subconsciously have been triggered back then," says Lohitnavy. And so as he approached his retirement and began reflecting on what he had wanted to do - having already fulfilled his passion for car racing in competitions during his younger years, and was even appointed Editor for Yan Yon, a well-known Thai automobile magazine - Lohitnavy began to return to the idea of wine-making.

He would study various areas of land in Thailand, and eventually concluded that Khai Yai was perhaps the most suitable - it was not as humid, wet or warm as compared to northern Thailand (closer to the traditional winemaking belt) due to the higher altitudes at the national park, and Lohitnavy was already familiar with the area having grown up visiting his family's estate there. He had also paid consideration to its proximity to Bangkok, and itself being a famed national park, and thus the potential for possible wine tourism, along with the government's signalling of its intention of turning the area into a vineyard even as Thai winemaking up till the 1990's was sparse and largely non-commercial. Whilst it is said that as far back as half a century ago, the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej had experimented with planting vines around parts of Thailand, perhaps the most prominent wine-making up till then was the work of late hotelier and construction tycoon Dr. Chaijudh Karnasuta, who had pursued winemaking as a passion project under the name of Chateau de Loei (and even exported some bottles of Thai wine to Europe and Japan) from 1991, and is thus considered the Father of Thai wine - nevertheless after his death the winery has long been defunct.

 

GranMonte's vineyard in Khao Yai.

 

Yet Lohitnavy would not end up making the first move to seize the opportunity at Khao Yai - he would instead help his friend Dr. Piya Birombhakdi (of Singha Beer) establish the PB Valley Winery first, before himself taking up residence in Khao Yai several years later as the second winery in the national park area. He would thus name the winery GranMonte, which is an Italian stylised name for Khao Yai which can be translated as "Big Mountain" in Thai - it was here that he would relocate his family, with his wife Sakuna, and his two young daughters at the time, Nikki (Visootha) and Mimi (Suvisooth). As Lohitnavy was not himself a trained winemaker nor viticulturalist even though he had extensively studied the site and determined several varietals that would show potential there, he would instead receive assistance in the early years from PB Valley's flown-in German winemaker.

Located some 350 meters above sea level, the Asoke Valley is characterised by rolling yet steep hills (that climb up to 500 meters above sea level) that are composed of limestone with soils of crimson terra rossa. Even as Khao Yai is milder in climate compared to the rest of Thailand, it is still just a little reprieve as the valley remains steamy with humidity (with average temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius) and experiences heavy monsoon summers that are cusped on both ends by dry and cooler winters - the climate is not impossible but remains incredibly difficult, which makes GranMonte's work pioneering. As such, particularly given the short history of winegrowing in not just Khao Yai but Thailand altogether, much experimentation (and conviction) is needed to understand what works best. The result of which is the planting of over 40 grape varieties, with different parcels farmed distinctly different, and every plot and varietal has to be vinified separately and treated with its own elevage. It's been an arduous experience for the team to learn to deal with tropically grown vines undergoing no winter dormancy with then two fruiting seasons each year, as well as figuring out that Rieslings don't work in such warmth, and also cracking the code on balancing acidity and ripeness to have their wines produce vibrant aromatics even without the cool climate that is typically counted upon to create aromatic complexity in the fruit - all whilst searching for the perfect method to deliver typicity, that is wines that are uniquely Khao Yai, and of Thailand.

 

Nikki and Mimi Lohitnavy.

 

This lofty ambition of GranMonte's therefore rests on Nikki and Mimi, with Nikki serving as the estate's winemaker, whilst Mimi works on educating on and promoting the estate's wines as its Director of PR and Marketing. Having grown up on the winery's estate, Nikki had developed a deep interest in botany, and would graduate with a degree in Oenology with an Honours in Viticulture from the University of Adelaide, making her not only the first to do so in the university's history, but also Thailand's first and only fully qualified winemaker. Nikki would gain firsthand experience by working the harvest and also in various functions of wineries around the world, from Australia's Brown Brothers and Wolf Blass, to also France's La Fleur de Bouard (Lalande de Pomerol) and Chateau Angelus (Saint-Emilion), as well as South Africa's Anwilka and Klein Constantia. She would take on the helm of GranMonte's lead winemaker in 2008. Mimi too would also take on a degree in Australia, and would join the family's winery just a year later in 2009, and has since been the face of the winery at tasting events, trade shows and festivals. With the two daughters now leading the winery, Visooth and Sakuna remain as CEO and President respectively, with Visooth leading the charge at the Thai Wine Association which he founded in 2004, whilst Sakuna oversees GranMonte's award-winning estate restaurant, VinCotto.

 

The Lohitnavy's have pushed Thai wines forward.

 

As a family, the Lohitnavy's have pushed Thai winemaking forward greatly through their work at the Thai Wine Association, with Visooth helping to set in place the necessary inaugural viticulture and winemaking quality standards that is needed to raise the bar for Thai wines as a category, whilst Nikki has helped to successfully have Khao Yai registered and recognised as its own Geographical Indication (GI), and Mimi has also fought hard to amend Thai legislation that once wholly prohibited any commercial communication on alcohol to now drawing a distinction between commercial advertising and sharing of factual information, with winemakers soon to be allowed to share about their vineyards, terroir and winemaking. The Thai Wine Association now counts six members, with each member having to satisfactorily pass laboratory tests on its wine as well as site inspections. This represents a crucial step forward in promoting the perception of Thai wines - an objective that is only possible with the collaboration of the country's key winemakers - as it moves beyond the once commonplace practice for wineries to take numerous shortcuts in their winemaking, either by adding oak chips, tannin or tartaric acid, having often lacked the necessary equipment, expertise, willpower, or all three. Yet, more remains to be done in the way of convincing the local government to roll back of the prohibitively high taxes, beyond the already challenging task of getting consumers to be more demanding of their wines.

 

GranMonte's estate.

 

By 2009, with a full fit out of top notch imported winemaking equipment from France, Germany, Italy and Australia - and of course with Nikki and Mimi at the helm - GranMonte's new Asoke Valley winery was ready to open itself to visitors, with today the winery spanning 36 acres. GranMonte takes a naturalistic approach to allowing the fruit to best express its unique tropical character, with minimal intervention and of course no artificial adjustments, focusing on producing modern wines that emphasise freshness and fruit-forwardness with a sense of regionality - the goal is for one to be able to pinpoint the fruit varietal but not misplace its provenance as New or Old World. Whilst Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Durif (Petit Syrah), Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Semillon and Verdelho remain the most popular varieties for GranMonte, the estate in fact grows up to 40 different varieties in total. This reflects the reality that even with over two decades of winegrowing, experimentation remains crucial in continuing the effort of learning more about what works in this tropical climate. 

 

 

Furthering the groundwork done prior by the Huay Sai Royal Research Project which helped to identify Syrah and Chenin Blanc as suitable varieties for the climate, GranMonte would expand upon the work through a section of its vineyard that is dedicated to experimenting with various rootstocks and clones. This has yielded new viable candidates in the form of Grenache, Verdelho and Muscat, which GranMonte has already begun cultivating. Currently the oldest vines on the estate are 20+ year old Chenin Blanc, whilst the youngest are a row of Portuguese Alvarinho grapes. Given the newness of winegrowing in Thailand, GranMonte has fully leaned into the blank canvas as a key advantage that has allowed the winery to chart its own path without being overly confined to what is deemed as tradition. The result of which is Nikki's identifying of unique ambient yeasts that is now used for GranMonte's wines, further allowing its wines to speak to its unique provenance. “We isolated natural yeasts from different grape varietals in our vineyard, micro-vinified them, selected the best and even sent them for DNA sequencing. Now, we use them to ferment our wines," says Nikki.

 

 

GranMonte's deep embrace of continuous research is supported by rigorous data collection in the form of what it calls the Smart Vineyard system. The precision farming system includes microclimate monitoring systems comprised of five weather stations, as well as soil humidity gauges, which has allowed the winery to best adapt to the uncharted tropical climate. From the team's analysis, they've found that the best approach to deal with the vines bearing fruit numerous times a year without a dormancy period (that would typically take place in winter in the Wine Belt, allowing for vines to "rest" and not get depleted) is to prune twice a year, closely manage canopy density, and also control irrigation tightly (mountain water being pumped to the vineyards from a nearby lake), in order to have just one harvest each year. This way, harvest can take place during the cooler months of January to March, whilst avoiding the monsoon months of April to October, where the vines can in fact recharge in a vegetative cycle by only absorbing nutrients from the soil for the next annual harvest - the result of which is maximal fruit concentration, with minimised windows for dilution from the tropical rains or overly aggressive fruiting. “It’s all about knowing how to manage in a tropical climate where the vines never sleep and humidity is high most of the year," Nikki explains. Each row of vines are bookended by rose blossoms which are not only decorative, but also help serve as the first warning sign should things in the vineyard go awry.

 

 

Each harvest, volunteers from around the world are welcomed to join the Lohitnavy family as they celebrate the vintage, with the international team amassed from around the world handpicking fruit in the coolness of night, as well as being brought around by day on a guided winery tour, with of course wine tastings and food prepared by the winery's own VinCotto restaurant. Live music and entertainment, as well as a vintage car show and other arts and craft activities make the entire event a huge draw for volunteers looking to experience a wine harvest for themselves. Beyond the harvest season, visitors are still welcomed year-round to the GranMonte estate, and can cycle around the winery or simply enjoy a ride around the vines on a grape-purple coloured electric buggy, whilst dining at the VinCotto restaurant, or even stay at the winery's Wine Cottages, waking up to the rustic countryside, nestled amongst the lush green vines and with a minibar stocked with GranMonte's wines. The winery has also a Visitor's Center with a gift shop that offers grappa made from estate fruit, as well as locally made Thai cheeses. 

 

 

Back in the winery, harvested fruit is kept refrigerated and then processed with advanced sorting technology, with each parcel and variety vinified separately (in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, with even custom pigmented versions designed by Nikki herself for the winery), as well as made into various styles of wines from sparkling Cremant, to still wines (red, white and rosé), sweet dessert wines, and even non-alcoholic Shiraz grape juice. For ageing, the wines are filled into French and American oak barrels, with all GranMonte wines made naturally with no additives, and only with estate-grown fruit. The estate also places emphasis on being low wastage, with seeds and stems turned into compost and any waste wines are used to make wine salt.

 

 

More recently, Nikki has also begun experimenting with clay amphoras imported from Georgia (the Ancient World of wine) in an attempt to produce orange wines. Whilst it does nevertheless remain to be seen how GranMonte's wines hold up with significant age considering the estate's only two-and-a-half decades long history, it is worth noting that already thus far GranMonte holds acclaim for being the only vineyard in Thailand to successfully produce Cabernet Sauvignon wines, and as such have been named Best National Producer for Thailand by the AWC Vienna international wine competition.

 

 

As GranMonte's story continues to unfold, bottle by bottle, the Lohitnavy's are making sure that Thai wines are part of the conversation within Thailand, as well as around the world.

And so today we've got with us a really extensive spread of wines from GranMonte and the wonderful presence of Mimi who was incredibly hospitable and open to introducing GranMonte, patiently answering any questions despite a long couple of days of showcasing her family's wines, and even dug into the intricate details of what needs to happen for Thai wines to move forward) - we have the following:

• GranMonte Cremant Methode Traditionelle Extra Brut
• GranMonte Spring Unwooded Chenin Blanc
• GranMonte The Orient Viognier
• GranMonte Sakuna Rose
• GranMonte The Orient Syrah
• GranMonte Durif
• GranMonte Bussaba Natural Sweet Wine

Wine Review: GranMonte Cremant Methode Traditionelle Extra Brut

Made with 100% Chenin Blanc in the methode traditionelle, essentially mirroring how sparkling Champagne wines are made - that is with a secondary ferment to create the effervescence. Just 4,000 bottles are made on select vintages. The fruit is whole brunch pressed, with about 18 months of lees ageing (with hand riddling), after which it is disgorged and corked in the original bottle. This is the first and only Cremant sparkling wine in Khao Yai - 100% made from and at GranMonte of course! Incredibly impressive feat by GranMonte! This is the GranMonte Cremant Methode Traditionelle Extra Brut 2019 vintage.

 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Gold

Aroma: Immediately fresh with a nice freshness that shows great balance between brightness and firmness. It's concentrated, filled in with gooseberries, pears and quince, bright and with some richness, yet not particularly tart. It's in deeper and richer, just accented by a light tartness of white tropical fruit, of mangosteens, with a firmer core of orchard fruits. There's also a sense of some chalkiness and minerality that comes through as well.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, really plush and velvety, with a lovely creaminess, filled in by soft puree of poached quince and green pears, with a light vanilla cream undertone. It's really creamy, with a gentle carbonation.

Finish: More muskiness ensues with gooseberries and mangosteens, with an emphasis on white tropical fruit. It's seamless and plush through the finish, with a light pepperiness and dried yellow fruit of quince that lingers.

 

My Thoughts

An impeccable Sparkling! I really enjoyed this for how firm and concentrated it is, where it's also not overly high toned, showcasing great balance between fresh and bright fruitiness as well as richness. It's evocative and aromatic on the nose - again with such great obvious firmness of that fruit core - and comes through with a texturally compelling creaminess on the palate, with soft bubbles that gently dissipate. It's plush and seamless through the finish, without any aggressiveness or abruptness, just gliding right through with such drinkability. Absolutely wonderful, and an expression I cannot recommend enough! It's fun, it's got a great story, it's unique, it's tasty, pairs well, and it's intellectual if you want it to be (if you're trying to figure what exactly the Khao Yai terroir is and where it stands between New and Old World) - its a masterstroke subtly disguised as a party.

Wine Review: GranMonte Spring Unwooded Chenin Blanc

This is harvested in the cool winter nights of February when the fruit hits a sugar level of 22 Brix, and is also carefully checked to ensure high acidity, with much done to preserve the freshness of the fruit and its juice. The Chenin Blanc here is sorted, destemmed and crushed, before fermentation is done in a stainless steel vat - as such it's unwooded - and is designed to be enjoyed young or with a few years of ageing in bottle to deepen the flavours. This is the GranMonte Spring Unwooded Chenin Blanc 2023 vintage.

 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Straw

Aroma: Fresh naturalistic scents of fruit orchards, of rows of green apples, green pears, quince and jackfruit. It's giving lots of green tropical fruit, of custard apples and soursop, laid over a gloss of honey and maltose candy. There's a little bit of green pepper as well, with also a spring water like minerality. It's really firm with a good richness.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's rounded and plush, rather supple and creamy, maybe even alittle bit syrupy. Fruits in the form of quince, green pears and lime, bring forth a light tartness, with this gentle yet even acidity. There's a little bit of vanillic creaminess, almost like a quince or pear compote whisked into cream. 

Finish: It's creamy into the finish with gentle tones of quince, green pears and golden apples. Seamless, with a backstop of minerality and a dash of pepper.

 

My Thoughts

This was a very well balanced Chenin Blanc that once again avoided being overly high toned or thin - here it's incredibly creamy and smooth, firm and rich, yet evenly balanced against the even and rounded acidity and tartness. It's fruit-forward and body forward with all these yellow and green tropical fruits that are laid over a bed of vanilla cream. This definitely had more body and alittle more ripeness than say a French style Chenin Blanc, you could definitely sense more warmth here, with also more of that musky tropical fruit fleshiness that comes through, yet without going over the top. 

Wine Review: GranMonte The Orient Viognier

This is 100% Viognier - the only Viognier from Thailand in fact! It's harvested in the cool mornings when the fruit reaches 21 Brix, with fermentation partially done in old French oak barrels, and with GranMonte's own wild yeast. This is the GranMonte  The Orient Viognier 2023 vintage.

 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Straw

Aroma: Gentle exotic tones of beeswax, agarwood and other lacquered oriental woods, here it's bright and delicate, almost crystalline, yet also rich and firm. It's garnished with florals of peach blossoms and honeysuckle, and encased in aromatic resins and maltose candy. 

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's silky, creamy and plush, filled in with quince, candied pineapples, tinned peaches, as well maltose, honey and honeysuckle florals. There's a light tartness with a good richness, garnished by some apricot peels.

Finish: It develops an intriguing mochi character, almost glutinous and delicately sweet and chewy. It's really silky and supple, seamless and creamy, almost reminiscent of nipa palm fruit. The sweetness is gentle, and with a good richness that carries through the finish.

 

My Thoughts

A really intriguing take on Viognier, and a really enjoyable one! It sports the signature Viognier exotic aromas and vibrant flavours, here riper and with more richness. It's not as intense as French style Viognier's, yet also have more lift than South African ones, with a richness that sits in the middle. It's still pretty expressive and with a nicely plush body that is contrasted with a light acidity. It's into the finish where it most grips me, where it seems to develop a sort of mochi (Japanese glutinous rice cake treats) like gentle sweetness and almost chewiness, which also reminded me of nipa palm fruit - I found it most compelling, and incredibly enjoyable!

Wine Review: GranMonte Sakuna Rose Syrah

This is made with 100% Syrah, and is made in the traditional method where there is no mixing of white or red grapes, as well as no mixing of white or red wine in order to achieve the Rose - here the Syrah is sorted, destemmed and crushed, with just a short period of skin contact. The Syrah used comes from 14 year old blocks that are planted on a slope with deep red clay soils and good drainage, harvested at night when the fruit hits 22 Brix. It is of course named after the matriarch of the Lohitnavy family, Sakuna! This is the GranMonte Sakuna Rose 2024 vintage.

 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Orange-Garnet

Aroma: It opens alittle tart with red fruits of cherries and wild strawberries, as well as having some of that grassiness as well. It's backed up by richer tones of vanilla cream, with even alittle bit of a spiced character, of cloves and allspice giving a sort of savoury spiced earthiness. The bouquet is altogether fresh and rustic, with a good amount of richness.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, with a supple yet lifted and plush, satin like texture. More of those red fruits of strawberries and dark cherries, this time in the form of a light spread of jams and preserves. It's got good richness, really cohesive and well saturated. There's a light tartness and pucker, with also still that savouriness. It's really creamy - this big undertone of creaminess - yet it's not confectionary, just really textural. Garnished with some grassiness once again.

Finish: The vanilla cream starts to mark a return, with a receding of those cherry and strawberry jams. It's a little more herbaceous and spiced here, with cloves and white pepper aromatics. Seamless, rich and supple into the finish with a light cherry pucker.

 

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed this Rose! As we're starting to see, GranMonte has a really good handle at finessing these very balanced and well-rounded wines. Here we have the acidity of the red fruits, with also that rustic, almost wild, grassy quality, that's nicely backed up by a good amount of creamy richness that disallows the wine from being sharp or high toned. This makes for a really accessible and drinkable Rose that has a fantastic texture and weight to it that gives it presence and allows it to hold up on its own. I also really liked the spiced qualities that came through which I found gave this Rose quite some character.

Wine Review: GranMonte The Orient Syrah

This comes from Syrah vines from GranMonte's oldest blocks, where the yields are lower and the vines are planted on slopes with red clay and good drainage. The fruit is harvested in the morning when it hits 24-25 Brix. It's then sorted for the winery's ideal ripeness, and then vinified with long maceration, after which it is aged in new and second year French and American oak barrels for 12 months. This is the GranMonte The Orient Syrah 2021 vintage. 

 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Ruby

Aroma: Fruit forward, perfumed and rustic, it's led by red fruits of strawberries, dark cherries and red licorice, with rose petals, as well as an earthiness of freshly tilled soil, hay and animal hide. There's a light tartness of wild strawberries, along with more confectionary tones of vanilla cream, and also some wet grassiness. Also a muskiness as well of white tropical fruits of mangosteens and nipa palm fruit.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's giving dark cherries, strawberries and rose petals. It's supple and with a good depth, and powdery tannins, almost as perfumed talcum powder. Also blackberries joining the fray. The berries come through in the form of soft yet firm fruit jellies and preserves. It's really well integrated with a good richness, yet not over the top.

Finish: More strawberries and rose petals, that powderiness of the tannins carries through the finish. It's supple and seamless, with really softened tannins. That nipa palm fruit musky chewiness comes through softly, with some of that wet grass quality lingering on the finish.

 

My Thoughts

A really bold and elegant Syrah that has all that verve in deep red fruits, red florals and that nice earthy rusticity that I so love about the varietal. This was well saturated, with good richness, yet not heavy nor over the top. It has this beautiful texture that's supple and yet firm, with this powdery tannins that I simply felt wondrous! It had a good concentration, was bold yet not in your face, really elegant and just incredibly drinkable and accessible. Perhaps the only aspect that I thought was alittle strong here was that wet grassiness that came through on the nose and in the finish, although it does add some herbaceousness and rusticity. I also found a recurrence of that nipa palm fruit or mangosteen white tropical fruit like muskiness here again - which we got in the Viognier as well - and I believe that's the Khao Yai terroir speaking, which is absolutely wonderful that GranMonte has found its way to distinctively expressing its terroir and climate in its wines, both red and white! Superb!

Wine Review: GranMonte Durif

Another varietal that is only grown by GranMonte in Thailand, Durif is also known as Petite Sirah, where this was a varietal that GranMonte had identified from its experimental vineyard as showing great potential for the Khao Yai terroir and hence the team went ahead to farming it. The first planting of Durif at GranMonte was in 2005, which has since been expanded into three sizeable blocks. This is hand harvested at 23 Brix, where it is then fermented in stainless steel tanks, with malolactic fermentation done in second year French oak puncheons, before it is finally aged for 16 more months. This is the GranMonte Durif 2023 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: It opens with some rustic notes of wet hay, as well as musky tropical fruits of mangosteens and jackfruit that occupies the top note, with a darker core of dark cherries, raspberries and blackberries. It's also quite herbaceous with some mint and more on wet grass as well.

Taste: Medium-bodied, really firm and rather plush, it's filled in with seamless red and black fruits in the form of strawberries, raspberries, mulberries and blackberries, cusped by perfumed florals of rose petals, with once again that powdery tannin that comes through in the form of perfumed talc powder. Wafts of that wet grassiness and also some eucalyptus here as well, with some musky jackfruits coming through into the finish. It's velvety and rounded, with a very plush texture.

Finish: That powderiness of the tannins persists, it's now more cherry forward with alittle bit of a pucker. Blackberries too, with also that perfumed rose petal. It's seamless and rich into the very plush finish, with some light muskiness of mangosteens that linger.

 

My Thoughts

This was perhaps the most rustic of the lot, with lots of musky tropical fruit that came through on the nose, and even carrying through into the finish, of jackfruits and mangosteens - once again the Khao Yai terroir coming through! Aside from the wet grassiness which was quite strong here, I really enjoyed how seamless and plush the body was, with all these really supple and concentrated red and black fruits, and also that powdery tannins once again. It kept this really lovely texture all through the finish, with a nice accent of acidity that gave it a freshness to boot. Definitely more rustic, yet once again a really approachable wine that's got stature and presence, with great body and concentration.

Wine Review: GranMonte Bussaba Natural Sweet Wine

And finally we end things off on a sweet note with the GranMonte Bussaba Natural Sweet Wine - so no artificial sweeteners added, get that right, this is the real deal! That means only residual sugar is left from the fruit itself where the wine is not fermented to dryness (and so some sugar is naturally leftover, as not all of it is turned to alcohol by the yeast) - this was done by keeping the fermentation period short, and as a result the alcohol level is also pretty low at 8.5% ABV. "Bussaba" itself translates to flowers, and this is a blend of late harvested Chenin Blanc, Semillon and Muscats. This is the GranMonte Bussaba Natural Sweet Wine 2024 vintage.

 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Light Straw

Aroma: Incredibly vibrant, it's superbly expressive with all manners of tropical fruits of jackfruits, green pears, mangosteens and candied pineapples, all coated with a good dusting of sweet frosting. It's fresh and elegant, yet with a great richness and a lifted quality that avoids any sense of heaviness. It's perfumed and totally radiant!

Taste: Medium-plus bodied, it's of course rounded and honeyed, filled in with more tropical fruits in the form of jackfruits and mangosteens, and drizzled with maltose candy. It's rather syrupy, continue to develop on to tinned longans and lychees. It's seamless and plush, well saturated with these exotic fruits, yet again never over the top or weighty, with this lightness of a lifted quality.

Finish: Plush into the finish, it's giving tinned fruit syrup, completely seamless, with lingering aromatics of longans and mangosteens, bringing with it a touch of muskiness.

 

My Thoughts

Absolutely beautiful - this was just pure liquid joy! It embodies with such saturation all these vibrant exotic fruits, and really noticeably, that lightness of the lower alcohol really offers it a lovely lift where it keeps a good roundedness, just alittle bit syrupy, yet not at all weighty, heavy or over the top. It was radiant on the nose, and luscious on the palate, yet refreshing into the finish. This was such an absolute beauty! Unlike most sweet wines that tend to get too heavy quickly, this kept all the flavours and aromatics, yet feels featherlight to the palate.

  

Kanpai!

 

@111hotpot