(L to R) David Aitken, General Manager, Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd.; Visart Dejkul, Marketing Manager, Sri Siam Wine Co., Ltd.; Pongsak Tiamsuttikarn, Manager, The California Wine Co., Ltd.; Visooth Lohitnavy, Chairman & Owner, Gran Monte Co., Ltd.; Michel Conrad, Wine Director, Independent Wine & Spirit (Thailand) Co., Ltd.; Anirut Posakrisna, Chairman, Wine Dee Dee Co., Ltd.; Ranjith Chandrasiri, Chairman of Wine Judging Panel; Sanjog Modgil, President FBAT, Thailand.
Thailand’s leading international food and hospitality trade event, the Food & Hotel Thailand 2010 was held September 15 – 18 at the Royal Paragon Hall, Siam Paragon, Bangkok. Despite the challenging economic and political situation, this year’s show was a resounding success with over 12,000 sqm of the Royal Paragon Hall being transformed into an all-in-one exhibition for the food and beverage, hotel, retail and hospitality industries. This year’s event was the platform for new innovations, new trends and new technology essential for the food, hotel, restaurant and hospitality industry in Thailand and the region.
This year the Food & Hotel Thailand 2010 was co-located with Thailand’s International Culinary Cup and the Hospitality & Retail Technology Asia 2010 coupled with highlighted activities such as the International Wine Challenge organized by the Food and Beverage Association of Thailand (FBAT).
Chaired by the President of Royal Cliff Wine Club, Ranjith Chandrasiri, the 2010 Wine Challenge was held on day one with an extensive selection of international wines being judged in 10 categories of Premium and Super Premium categories based on retail pricing. Prestigious FBAT Wine Challenge Trophies and wine bottle stickers were awarded to all wines in each category, ranked gold, silver or bronze based on averaged out scores from the judges. Trophies were presented to each category winner and the best overall winner by Chandrasiri at the award ceremony and cocktail reception held in the evening.
The walk-away winning distributor was Wine Dee Dee Co., Ltd. with 5 gold medals for its entries. The California Wine Co., Ltd. won 3 gold medals followed by Sri Siam Wine Co., Ltd. and Festive Wines and beverage Co., Ltd. winning two gold medals each. GranMonte Co., Ltd., the only Thai wine producer to win a medal, was awarded a gold medal for their entry GranMonte 2005 Fiori Unfiltered Syrah in Super Premium Syrah/Shiraz category.
The overall winner in the Premium category was Stonefish Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and the overall winner in Super Premium category was MacManis Cabernet 2008.
