The perennial wine problem
 

Off to Bangkok in a few weeks' time, and this time I'm determined to have a decent glass of wine with a meal without paying rip-off prices.

So, I have two questions for the Thai experts:

1. Recommendations for reasonably-priced bars/restaurants (nothing luxurious) where I can get a reasonably-priced glass of wine, without it being complete plonk?

2. What stores are recommended for buying bottled wine, again at moderate prices - if such places exist?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

I relegate myself to booze and beer, and the former is often at not a great price. Wine is right out of the question for me in Thailand.

Good luck in your endeavor.

Perhaps start here:
http://bangkokwinesociety.com/

Thanks but that is exactly not what I asked for.

Sitting around with a bunch of wine snobs would not be my idea of a fun evening.

You could always bring in a bottle or two.

One of my favortie wine bar/restaurants in BKK is called Opus. It is not cheap, but I find it very reasonably priced for the quality. www.wbopus.com

If you want to bring some wine to Thailand, what about getting some at duty free?

I have thought about bringing in wine, but the duty-free allowance is only 1 litre - so effectively one bottle of decent wine.

Or 1 and a split.

Otherwise, the chances of customs pulling you aside are slim. I see lots of people coming through, with nary a glance by customs, carrying bags of 2x L bottles from duty free.

It is an option.

Buy a good quality bottle with airtight cap, and decant your wine of choice into that bottle. Then pack it. Customs is looking for commercial wine bottles.

Other than Thai's carrying boxes or those rainbow bags I havne't been able to figure out what customs is looking for.

Hate to be negative, but there really is no such thing as a “reasonably priced” wine in Bangkok… duty on wine is so astonishingly outrageous in Thailand, you’ll always pay a small fortune compared to what you’d pay in the West.

Furthermore, at least half the bottles we’ve purchased over the past few years have been badly corked or bottle shocked (more like 80%). It seems the bottles must be poorly handled upon arrival -- it's not a problem we encounter elsewhere in Asia or the tropics. At one point it had become such a huge issue for us that we’d virtually abandoned all wine purchases other than sparkling wine (usually Prosecco) which seems to hold up better. Or duty-free in SIN or some such.

Anyway. We finally hit on screw-top wines for quality, and specifically NZ wines for price (the sauv blancs are amazing). We still do inexpensive sparklers, too (e.g., Prosecco), but really, the stuff from New Zeland seems to be the closest thing to "reasonable" you'll find in BKK... around 800 baht is not uncommon, and under 600 baht is possible, and all highly drinkable. We've even converted a several of our wine snob friends :rolleyes:

Villa markets actually tend to have decent selections, but your mileage will vary from location to location. There’s one in particular off Sukhumvit that has an entire second floor dedicated to wine but I can’t think which soi it’s on (seems Mr always goes there without me).

There’s also a wine shop in All Seasons Place (Wireless Rd) that seems to have better prices than most, albeit a more limited selection. The staff are also very helpful and at least somewhat knowledgable. I’m not able to think of the name of the shop just at the moment, but I believe it’s a small BKK chain. It’s on the second level, near Tops (don’t bother with the one on the main level).

Decent price for wine in a resto? Have yet to find one, sadly. Take that 300% duty, add in the standard 300% restaurant markup, and… well. I even know a couple of restaurateurs who import their wines themselves, by air, in order to avoid the mishandling issues. Their wines are perfect, and labels that are hard to find in Thailand, but they're no bargains. ;) We just recently paid about 3,600 baht for a Haut Medoc that I can purchase in the states for about $25 :eek: SSSOOOO... if anybody has an idea I’d be thrilled to know about it, too! :D

Whatever you do, when you're buying wine in Thailand, seek out bottles with screw tops. It’s really the only way we’ve had any decent luck with getting unruined wine.

Good luck, and enjoy your visit!
Mrs

Judging by various reports in the news and on forums - taxable goods like tobacco and liquor.

If they catch you - big fines ensue and it figures that they'll get a cut.

I've had a similar situation in BKK many times.

For about $150 a night, the Sheraton Sukhumvit has an all-inclusive "Grande" package that includes happy hour in "Bar Su" with a pretty decent selection of red wine, an upgraded room with buffet breakfast and free internet.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to all for the useful advice.

If the worst comes to the worst, I'll just end up drinking beer. :eek:

When in Rome; be like a Roman... ;)


SunLover