The weird & whacky places wine is made
Getting bored of French or Australian wine and want to mix things up? Why not swap your Friday eveing bottle of vino with one from the following countries – to find the nearst store to you, click here.
1. Egypt
I had to do a double take when I saw ‘Made in Egypt’ wine in the little hole-in-the-wall liquor shop I came across in the back streets of Cairo. The history of winemaking actually dates back to the time of the pharaohs and is quite an interesting history too. To delve into the topic further, check out this great article I found on the Tour Egypt site. From what I experienced the quality of wine nowadays isn’t high but as Jancis Robinson discusses here, there could be something interesting in the pipeline in years to come.
2. Norway
That’s right; up in the wintry clutches of Scandinavia you can find vineyards. Sadly I didn’t have long enough to visit any when I was in Oslo last year. Eventyrvin the northernmost vineyard in the world simply translates into the ‘Wine of Fairytales’. Still very young, having only been established in 2007 the owners Wenche and Joar believe that there lakeside location has ideal climate and soil for producing Norway’s finest. Being a high wine consuming country, this one may be one to watch and if you do ever get the chance to try a bottle of Norwegian wine, do let me know how it goes.
3. Thailand
From Scandinavia we now head to the tropical paradise of Thailand. And no I am not talking about Sangsom here (ugh, horrible memories). In fact there is even a ‘Thai Wine Association’ that gives the intrepid traveler all the information he/she would need in order to visit the tropical vineyards. The association (with a total of 6 members) was formed in 2004 to establish winemaking stands and of course help promote and educate people on Thai wines. According to their website they are producing ‘world-class wines’. I think I’ll leave the verdict out on that one until I meet someone who has actually tried a Thai wine first hand. Especially one coming out of the 3rd wine region – Pattaya, here I was thinking only old men with gold chains and speedos were cultivated there…
4. Estonia
Originally part of Russia and now the cheap booze capital for the Finn’s to retreat too. This unconventional wine producing country are still in the experimental vineyard stages with a lot of research being done on grapes and which would grow best in the Estonian climate. Like Finland, a lot of the current wines are made from other berries such as cloudberries, blueberries, etc.
5. China
It would be easy to assume that China buy a fair chunk of the wine produced by Chateau Lafite-Rothschild so it’s only natural that they try to make their own. Lafite, made in China. Doesn’t that seem completely normal to you? Well in fact the red and gold adorned country do make their own wines. It may only be best drunk with cola but hey at least they’re trying.