My Article: What Wines Survive Real Thai Food?

I spent a few days in Phuket, Thailand, for some R & R following almost a month of tasting in Australia and working on various projects in Hong Kong, including the Wine Futures event. The 2009 Bob Parker tasting was the highlight of the event; it was great to taste the 2009s in bottle. Subscribers can see my scores and report on the 20 “magical” wines – that’s how Bob touted the tasting.

But those classified growth Bordeaux were the last thing on my mind while kicking back in the beach resort of Phuket. I spent most of the time writing, chilling and taking the occasional swim in the pool.

I also ate a lot of spicy Thai food. In fact, I have a strong tolerance for spicy food due to my love of Mexico and the many close friends I have from there. The photo with this blog is street food we picked up.

Anyway, I brought a number of bottles of white wine in my bag for dinners – mostly white Burgundies and a couple of Sauvignon Blancs from Alto Adige – and they were absolutely slaughtered. The super hot and spicy dishes with chilies, no matter fish, meat or vegetables, killed the whites. The most destroyed were the Burgundies that just turned to wood.

This being said, I found two wines that really did it for me: a screw cap 2008 Gunderloch Dry Riesling from Germany, and a 2006 Allegrini Palazzo della Torre from Italy’s Veneto. The red is a blend of Corvina and Cabernet Sauvignon, if I remember correctly. The latter was severed slightly chilled.

I know that beer is the preferred drink with Thai food, but I have to admit that a cool glass of wine just feels a lot better during a meal, even in Thailand.