The Auswine Forum

I have noted a campaign by some on this board who have been foolhardy enough to exclude themselves from a large number of wine varieties and styles to suggest that Thai food and shiraz or durif is a good combination. It is a poor combination compared to a vast number of other wine matches. The tannins of the wine conflict with the typical flavourings used in Thai food. You may be able to get away with it at a real pinch, but life is too short when there are so many other better choices. Don't think i would want to taste food prepared by those who advocate the match.

What next? Pan frield whiting fillet an vintage port?

There, that feels better.

Matthew

Hi Matthew,

I gave the Shiraz/Thai combination a try on Friday night - admittedly it was a shiraz that was very light on tannin. The spicy food seemed to emphasise the fruit of the wine. The wine also had a cooling effect I had not previously noticed with white leaving me better able to taste the food. I notice that RB is also suggesting a Durif which is, to my taste anyway, very light on the tannin, very big on fruit.

Anyway, a good option for me, particularly after being restricted to whites for decades (big problem with gout - which is now being treated with daily doses of pills - I am now enjoying the opportunity to reacquaint myself with red).

Not sure I could go for the whiting and port matching though.

Regards,

Allan

Matthew,

If you'd read the original posts more carefully you may have noticed it specifically excluded those wines with heaps of oak or tannins, I agree, they can clash. (Then again, a 94 Johns Blend cabernet was a big hit with the wife and oldest son of the owner of Suko Thai at a family gathering recently where most people drank red wine with the authentic Thai food)

I'm glad you feel better now, I'm sure you (and many others) find other wines a better match with Thai food, but that doesn't make me or the others who enjoy the combination wrong either. BTW I've had this combination in many places, all over Thailand with anything from my own cooking, restaurant food in Australia and BKK to market food in Chiang Mai in the north to Surat Thani in the south, often with Thai people who enjoyed the combination too. That doesn't mean it's right for everyone and I'm not saying that, just that people with a predilection for reds should give it a try.

This pic is taken last year on some primitive Jungle Rafts an hour's boat ride into the Kao Sok national park in southern thailand. The wine is a 2002 Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier, it matched nicely with the surprisingly good food cooked in the primitive kitchen.


The difference here is I don't tell other people who have a different opinion that they are wrong to like a particular wine, wine type or style or wine/food combination, I just say what I like.

Rest assured, you won't be invited to taste the reasonably authentic Thai food I cook and enjoy with red wine.

BTW, everyone knows you eat pan fried whiting with oloroso sherry if you want a fortified

MatthewW wrote:The tannins of the wine conflict with the typical flavourings used in Thai food.

Mathew, I've been to Thailand and I would like to hear what in your opinion are "typical flavourings used in Thai food"

By the region, if you please. Have you been to Thailand? Chang Miai? Chang Rai? Sukkotai?

Thank you in advance for your opinion about what "typical" is...I can't wait to read it

Red Bigot wrote:This pic is taken last year on some primitive Jungle Rafts an hour's boat ride into the Kao Sok national park in southern thailand.

I haven't been there myself, but have a picture of my father falling off one of those rafts. Look on his face is priceless.

Get some Rockford Allicante Boquet and you can have buckets of chilli and spice with it.

Hi Matthew - different strokes for different folks, of course, but by & large agree with you - red wines with Thai (or for that matter Asian food in general) have never done much for me - the range of gewurz's, rieslings, pinot gris, etc available for great matching is huge - of course, I'm no red bigot.
BWT, accidentally tried Seppelt Show Fino DP117 with take-away fish & chips, amazed how damn good it was.

I suspect Sparkling reds could be a hit with Thai food. I reckon that Balnaves Sparking Cabernet (a sumptuous beast!) would be most enjoyable.

Adair

Adair wrote:I suspect Sparkling reds could be a hit with Thai food. I reckon that Balnaves Sparking Cabernet (a sumptuous beast!) would be most enjoyable.

Adair

Abosolutely correct. Seppelt Original too, some of the Leasingham CC are a bit oaky, Yalumba Black D is good too, also Bleasdale NV Shiraz.

Interesting thread.

I've never tried a red like the ones described here with Thai, but I have done it with Indian. Allan and others, you are absolutely right, the chilli heat seems to subdue the tannin and bring out the fruit - but I havent tried it with any real tannic monsters.

I can see that working the same way with Thai, but I'm intrigued by the flavour matching once you get past the heat/spice issue.

Brian, do you have an example of a match I can try out?

cheers

Andrew

well...there are no 2 people on planet Earth with absolutelly identical tastes....none, nada, zero, zilch!

One likes the hot chilli peppers heat with red tanin full wines, another doesn't like chili at all...
And that the way it is. Arguing what's better with any particular food is an exercize in futility. It all depends on INDIVIDUAL TASTE.

Andrew,

I think this thread is a response to this one:
http://www.auswine.com.au/forum/viewtop ... sc&start=0

My shiraz suggestions (all tried by me, in Oz and/or Thailand) are down the thread a bit. I've tried these sort of wines with all sorts of Thai food, an Eden Springs Shiraz 99 at Hua Hin with giant crab with fried roe and other seafood, Dalwhinnie and Metala Black Label Shiraz Shiraz in our friends favourite BKK Thai restaurant with all sorts of dishes, Greenock Ck 7-Acre Shiraz 1994 in a Surat Thani restaurant, including whole deep-fried fish, also Warrabilla 2002 Parola's Durif with various hot green herb-dominated southern curries from the markets, etc, etc. The only failure last trip was a Kaesler Bogan 2002, too oaky at this stage.

Just pick your favourite Thai dishes and give it a try, some Thai restaurants are a bit toned down for Oz tastes unless you know what/how to order, even then some are disappointing, you can do better yourself with a little practice.

We've done a few cooking classes in Thailand and one in Sydney with David Thompson, hope to do some more in Thailand this year, so we are starting to get as close to authentic as you can with locally available ingredients.

After much experimentation my Nam Prik Pow is getting pretty close to the real thing, we eat heaps of it made to a variety of slightly different recipes. It's much better than the stuff you buy in jars, not as good yet as the amazing one we had on a jungle raft up the Kwai river in 2001 when we asked to have the food the staff were eating (instead of the toned-down tourist food), that's the benchmark for me.

Serge wrote:And that the way it is. Arguing what's better with any particular food is an exercize in futility. It all depends on INDIVIDUAL TASTE.

Serge, I agree, I'm just saying what works for me (and may work for other people with a preference for mostly reds, I know quite a few people it does work for), but I know it doesn't work for a lot of others. That doesn't mean anyone can say I'm wrong just because it doesn't work for them, that isn't logical.

Delighted and amazed with Brian's match of Durif with Thai food.

For the record we have discovered this wonderful stuff that goes with hot food. Its called BEER, and its bloody marvellous!

Cheers

Smithy

Hello smithy,

With all due respect:

Many people hear speak very negatively about white wine. I am not one of those. However, nothing here has been mentioned about white wine that is too negative compared with my feelings about beer.

In fact, I would rather drink crap Sauvignon Blanc or an ordinary Viognier... yes, I dislike beer that much!!!

Adair

Red Bigot wrote:Andrew,

I think this thread is a response to this one:
http://www.auswine.com.au/forum/viewtop ... sc&start=0

..snip..

thanks Brian, forgot about that list!

AB

Adair wrote:Hello smithy,

With all due respect:

In fact, I would rather drink crap Sauvignon Blanc or an ordinary Viognier... yes, I dislike beer that much!!!

Adair,

"with due respect" normally means stuff you but I know what you mean. Like you I would also go for a SB over a beer.

TORB wrote:

Adair wrote:Hello smithy,
With all due respect:

Adair,
"with due respect" normally means stuff you but I know what you mean.

Anyone who makes Rutherglen Shiraz and Durif deserves respect!
Adair

smithy wrote:8)

Delighted and amazed with Brian's match of Durif with Thai food.

For the record we have discovered this wonderful stuff that goes with hot food. Its called BEER, and its bloody marvellous!

Cheers

Smithy

Yeah, when I run out of red in Thailand (only managed to get 10 bottles in last time) I tend to drink beer with the food rather than pay inflated wine prices to buy some locally, Singha is pretty good and the local version of Carlsberg is Ok too.

Red Bigot wrote:That doesn't mean anyone can say I'm wrong just because it doesn't work for them, that isn't logical.

RB, since when oenophiles are known as "logical"?
We are more "emotional" bunch than anything else.