In the balmy pre-pandemic days, when tourists thronged the streets of Pattaya in their droves and spirits were high, several of the local hotels used to organize wine tastings. I went to quite a few of them, purely out of professional interest of course. Some of them were superbly planned and seemed to attract people who were clearly interested in wine. But other establishments were putting on the kind of wine tasting I have found only in these parts; fun wine tastings with live music.
The very idea strikes me as utterly pointless. However, somewhat reluctantly, I went to one such event some years ago and although there were some quite good wines on show, it was obvious that most people had come along for a chat and a jolly good booze-up. Few people where even bothering to look at what was in their glasses, let alone explore the aromas and give them some thought. One or two people were giving their glass a suspicious sniff, such as you might do to check whether the milk has gone off. Others were knocking the wine back as though they were drinking beer. This was a terrible shame, because many of the wines deserved better attention.
Now I am not suggesting that a wine-tasting should always be held in an atmosphere of cloistered solemnity, though this would be my personal preference, but this event was a complete farce. The live music was distracting to the point of irritation and made it almost impossible to focus on the taste, let alone the aroma. Of course, wine is partly for enjoyment and I’ll be the first to agree. But quality wines offer something much more than mere “enjoyment”. They can bring a rewarding, sometimes profound sensory experience during which you can appreciate the colour in the glass and the range of primary, secondary and (occasionally) tertiary aromas. Then there’s the taste, the balance of its components, the body, the texture, the nature of the tannins and the acidity and the quality and duration of the finish. You can’t possibly asses all this when there’s loud music assaulting your ears. Oh dear, I think I’m beginning to sound like a boring old fart. (Funny you should mention that – Ed.)
Vineyards World of Wines Chardonnay 2021, Australia. (Bt. 389 @ Lotus’s)
There was a mild crisis the other night after we’d acquired some ready-to-eat Chinese- noodles at the local market and brought them home for dinner. To my dismay, there was no white wine in the house. Not a drop. I suppose we could have had red, but the only reds I could find were far too assertive for such a simple meal. In some desperation, I went down the soi to a relatively new branch of Lotus, or Lotus’s as we are now supposed to call it. And why did the company go to the enormous expense of adding the rather pointless apostrophe “s” to all their signs? The apostrophe doesn’t exist in the Thai language and even English speakers frequently get it wrong. Anyway, grammatical grumbles aside, I was delighted to find that they had a few bottles of inexpensive Chardonnay. Not ideal for the noodles, but definitely better than nothing.
The back label revealed that it’s from Accolade Wines, the fifth largest wine company in the world and based in South Australia with distribution centres in Europe. The company handles dozens of brands including Banrock Station, Berri Estates, Brookland Valley, Kumala and Mud House. It also markets the Hardys label which rather ironically, is written without an apostrophe when grammatically of course, there should be one.
This entry-level Chardonnay is a pale gold with a light and charming aroma of dusty herbs and soft tropical fruit. Whether you can actually identify the tropical fruit depends on whether your nose is any good. Being a dog in a previous life (or so I was once told), I have a pretty good nose. It may not be much to look at, but it works quite well despite its advancing years. Not so long ago, many commercial Australian Chardonnays came with a powerful fruity aroma. It was like being hit in the face with a sack of pineapples. But this is a much more subtle affair, with touches of pomelo, peach, young pineapple and a dash of lemony sweetness.
The wine is quite light-bodied with zesty fruit on the palate and even a dash of spritziness. The citrus flavours persist into the long finish. I suppose you’d describe it as “off-dry” and there’s a satisfying touch of light, rounded acidity. At this low price, this is a jolly good little wine; an easy drinker that would make an excellent aperitif or a good partner to many unassuming Thai or Chinese style dishes. It would work well with light fish or chicken dishes too. At 13% ABV, this wine needs to be enjoyed when it’s quite cold and absolutely fresh. There’s no need to aerate it, but you’ll need to use it up within 24 hours or the freshness and attractive aroma will fade.
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