Formerly the wine cellar of the Kings of France
and the Dukes of Burgandy, this is where some of the wine destined for
Pattaya begins its journey.
The Garden Farm, located at the Shopping Arcade on Second
Road (just opposite Mike’s), is the exclusive agent for Thailand’s most
recommended wine im-porter: Vanichwathana. There is an excellent wine
selection available, ranging in price from modest to expensive.
The Garden Farm, a whole-sale and retail shop, is open from Monday to
Saturday from 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The Vinotheque is open daily from 5:00
PM, including Sunday (when take-out bottles are available for 10% less than
regular Vinotheque retail). Both sell wines from France, Italy, Australia,
Chile, Argentina, Spain, South Africa, Germany and the USA.
The interior of Vinotheque is brown wood, with round tables, a lot of
pictures and artificial grapes as decorations. A cozy place, which reminded
me of the old wine cellars back in Austria. A tiny terrace with only three
tables gives one the opportunity to drink wine and watch life at the busy
shopping arcade.
An old rule says: drink the expensive and very good wines first. We started
therefore with some French wines. My favorite was an excellent, dry red
Bordeaux: Reserve Barons de Rothschild Puillac, though there are 23 red and
2 white Bordeaux available. The price range for a 75 cl bottle starts at 430
Baht and runs up to 3010 Baht for a 1979 Chateau Siran Margaux-Grand Cru
Exep-tionnel.
I was told the quality of a Bordeaux or any other good wine will be improved
if the wines are in recumbent position for at least 5 years. Amongst the
Bordeaux wines, house wines are also available, like Blanc de Blanc (190
Baht per bottle or 50 B per glass) and Colombelle Vin de Pays de Gascogne
(for the same price). These are typical white wines. If you would prefer red
house wines, Garden Farm offers Beauroy and Royal Cuvee Merlot (390/90
Baht). These wines are fruity, dry and go very well with meals.
Even though we had eaten a hearty meal before the wine testing, we still
felt like chewing something. We ignored the wild boar paté with different
nuts for 250 Baht and also the ‘Bloc de foie’, a goose liver paté for 650
Baht, opting instead to order a French cheese platter, 9 different cheeses
imported from France for 190 Baht, and an air-dried Mountain Salami platter
for 150 Baht with a lot of French bread.
We chose to enjoy Burgundy with our snack. One of my companions tried
Beaujolais Villages, a light red wine (520 Baht), while I, the real expert,
tried a heavy Loforet Pinot Noir for 700 Baht per bottle. Other wines French
wines were also on offer, like Elsaß, Rhone, Loire and Provence (all
excellent), but we opted to give wines from other countries a chance.
An Australian wine of the oldest renowned company there, Yalumbu, was
ser-ved. A red Cabernet Sauvignon + Shiraz, a bottle for 450 Baht, and a
Chardonnay for the same price. Both were very tasty, dry and fruity.
Garden Farm also has a selection of champagnes from Germany, France and
Australia. We tried Grandin Brut of France, which is a sparkling wine
prepared like champagne: Yeast and wine are filled into bottles, which are
then closed with a cork. After jogging the bottles every day for app. 2
years, the bottles will be opened and the yeast blasts out with explosive
force. The missing champagne in the bottle will be refilled and properly
closed again, ready to sell. Our bottle was opened very softly and we really
enjoyed it. We enjoyed the whole evening so much, we promised each other to
come back more often to relax in this cozy atmosphere and, hicks, have a
good glass (or two) of wine.
