Wine tasting in Myanmar: Where to sample some of the country's top wines

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 6 years ago

Wine tasting in Myanmar: Where to sample some of the country's top wines

By Kerry van der Jagt
Savouring the sunset at Red Mountain Estate.

Savouring the sunset at Red Mountain Estate. Credit: Shutterstock.com

The sun is low, igniting the fields and turning the rows of raked vines into swatches of emerald corduroy, while in the distance mountains clutch at a lavender sky.

We could be in Burgundy (the climate is similar) or Marlborough (sauvignon blanc is the estate's signature wine) or the Napa Valley (ringed by hills). But we are in Myanmar, on the edge of Inle Lake in the heart of the Shan State.

"Red Mountain Estate is one of the top two of wineries in the country," says Thun Thun, puffing his chest with pride as he pours a generous tasting of sauvignon blanc. When I ask how many wineries there are in Myanmar, he says, "Just two", before scurrying away to get the next bottle.

The first plantings of the Red Mountain Estate Vineyards were in 2003.

The first plantings of the Red Mountain Estate Vineyards were in 2003.Credit: Scenic

To be honest, I'm surprised to find any wineries, particularly one specialising in French and Spanish wines grown from the rootstock of 400,000 imported plants. Even the vineyard manager and winemaker, Francois Raynal, is imported from France.

Experimental plantings began in 2003, but it took another six years of trials and setbacks until the first wines – from sauvignon blanc and shiraz grapes – were harvested and bottled. These were difficult times for the winery and Myanmar itself; as Red Mountain Estate Vineyards and Winery took baby steps towards a brighter, tourist-driven future, so too did the country, starting with the 2010 general election and more recently the 2015 election, where Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won victory against the ruling Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP).

Time will tell if the decades-long internal conflicts will settle, but Red Mountain Estate is forging ahead. From an initial production of 20,000 bottles in 2008 to 250,000 bottles in 2016, the estate now boasts a restaurant, indoor and outdoor tastings areas and a lively, adventurous clientele who have either biked or bussed from the nearby town of Nyaung Shwe.

I'm travelling with tour company Scenic, and although we've already been introduced to Inle Lake's big-ticket items – the famous leg rowers, floating markets, Buddhist temples – a late afternoon wine-tasting is a surprise alternative (and just the ticket to combat temple fatigue).

We start with the 2013 sauvignon blanc, said to be the favourite of the winemaker. As the tasting notes suggest, it is dry with a "range of citrus fruits like grapefruit" and definitely worth the 14,000 kyat ($16) price tag. The sauvignon blanc grapes do well here due to the cool climate (1000 metres above sea level), rich soils and expertise of Raynal, who has also worked in New Zealand's Marlborough region.

Advertisement

The chardonnay is another winner, not just a lovely buttery wine with a floral aroma, but an actual medal-winning wine, having taken out bronze at the international Chardonnay du Monde awards in Burgundy, France, in 2013. I can only imagine how the French felt about that.

Things get a little more interesting with the 2013 shiraz-tempranillo, described in the tasting notes as "spicy with animal notes". I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on any animal flavours, notes or otherwise, in my vino. The first sip (meaty with a hint of sausage?) has me wincing. "It still needs more time," says Thun Thun, a statement that could stand for the country as a whole.

The next sample is a 2013 pinot noir, which I'd been preparing myself for since reading the tasting notes – "a superb attack on the palate" – a phrase that sounded more like a threat than a promise. It's a bit rough, and like all of the reds here, will improve with age, particularly when the roots get deeper into the soil.

Like all vineyards, Red Mountain has hits and misses, but in a country that has been closed for so long, it's testament to the courage and optimism of owner Nay Win Thun that Red Mountain Estate exists at all.

I've sampled the wines of Burgundy, with their 2000-year-old Roman heritage, but it's here in a pioneering vineyard in Myanmar that I begin to appreciate a new style of wine. Fresh and optimistic, with undertones of courage and perseverance, this wine should be sampled as soon as possible.

TRIP NOTES

MORE

traveller.com.au/myanmar

FLY

Singapore Airlines flies from all major cities to Singapore with connections to Yangon. See www.singaporeair.com

VISA

Australians travelling to Myanmar require a visa. See www.evisa.moip.gov.mm

VISIT

Scenic offers an 18-day Mystical Myanmar cruise and tour, including a 10-night cruise on the Irrawaddy River on board Scenic Aura (launched in September 2016), three nights on Inle Lake, one night in Mandalay and three nights in Yangon, from $11,690 a person twin share. Phone 138 128. See www.scenic.com.au

Kerry van der Jagt travelled as a guest of Scenic.

Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter

Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.

Most viewed on Traveller

Loading