Another price increase for wine, it's getting silly now.

[xylophone]

3 minutes ago, Shaunduhpostman said:

TESCO Roi Et had the same very acceptable World Wines selection from Australia, 375 baht for 75 cl. That's about the same price its been for 5 years. Sure its expensive for what it is, it'd be half the price in California where I am from, but being a Californian is about like being an Italian, you have to have your wine. The Merlot is very good and Chardonnay is as good as you can ask for for 375. No fruit juice that is mentioned on the label and doesn't taste like it either.

You are right Shaun...…..no fruit juice added and a bit of a swigger, but at least it is wine!

[DrTuner]

43 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Good thing you can still go out and eat dinner for two, with two glasses of good wine each, at a fancy restaurant for less than 3 000,- baht. Somtimes more, but the price in restaurants for wine is often the same as in the shops. Even if you brake it down to glass prices and not a bottle. 

 

I guess we just have to suck it up, or move to France ?

Just to put some reference out here .. I usually order a bottle when I go for a steak, it's around 1300-1800baht depending which I choose. Last Sunday I bought a passable French Malbec from Friendship, 1080 baht. Decent markup.

Edited June 4, 2018 by DrTuner
Typo

[xylophone]

21 minutes ago, giddyup said:

The increase in price will have to be passed on to customers, the restaurant isn't going to absorb it.

I have come to an arrangement with a couple of my favourite restaurants...……...I will be a frequent diner and bring friends along and be allowed to bring my own wine, provided it isn't plonk, free of charge! Works, and a win win.

 

Did have to negotiate with one place and paid 200 baht corkage, but as the wine was over 1500 b a bottle I didn't mind.

[Skeptic7]

On 6/2/2018 at 8:16 PM, Cadbury said:

Yeeeeh! I know tomato is not a fruit but a Bloody Mary with white pepper and a touch of Worcestershire sauce is heaven.

Technically speaking...biologically, botanically, scientifically...tomatoes are indeed a fruit, despite being used more like a vegetable and probably referred to as such more too. 

[Shaunduhpostman]

13 minutes ago, xylophone said:

You are right Shaun...…..no fruit juice added and a bit of a swigger, but at least it is wine!

That's all I ask, a weekly swigging. I prefer it to Jacobs Creek actually...you really wonder tho if the price gouge on the TESCO World Wines is just around the corner.

[Shaunduhpostman]

The wine to be had in Laos of course is without the tax we have here. It may get down to that, more excursions to Laos just to spend a weekend drinking nice wine.

 

There's a shop in the old downtown Savanakhet area that has a good selection of wines from most of the world's wine producers tho with an emphasis on French wines. I do enjoy that aspect of my yearly non-O run, getting a nice bottle for about half of what it would be here and enjoying it by the Mekong.

[Dumbastheycome]

I am back to  making  my  own. Fruit  wine.  Ok,  not better than   nor  worse than  any  Chateau a la Cardboard at current silly money prices but renewed  my  interest  in  the  process. 

[Get Real]

On 6/2/2018 at 8:56 AM, RichardColeman said:

Could you just not add a drop of vodka to some fruit juice ? 

That´s the best idea I´ve ever heard. Do I really need to drink the fruit juice? Can I have it in a separate glass? 

[bedouin1990]

These people could not produce a good wine if a thousand French and Italians were advising them.

[theoldgit]

Post in breach of Forum Rules removed.

 

English is the only acceptable language anywhere on ThaiVisa including Classifieds, except within the Thai language forum, where of course using Thai is allowed.

[spidermike007]

I drink good wine when I am back in the states. Wine that I find here on restaurant lists for 1500 baht, I can buy for $4 in the US. Though I would not drink it! The duty here is stupid. And if the small minds at the top only realized how dynamic a wine industry this country could have, if they simply repealed the anti farang wine bill, that imposed 460% duty on wine, and jailed the senators that accepted the bribes from the local wineries. It could be a multi billion dollar industry, if they imposed a fair minded tax like 100% instead. The policy was intended to protect a handful of local wineries, who produce garbage wine.

 

The wine duty is one of the things that holds Thailand back, from being a tourist destination that wealthy tourists would consider. They object to paying $1,000 for a bottle of wine they can get at home for $150. It is offensive. Everything about wine law and wine import policy in Thailand is offensive, non-visionary, brain dead, ignorant, dumb and dumber. 

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

21 hours ago, domdom said:

Hello

In big C, Makro and Fooland there is a wine called Laughing Bird...

Appeared 2 months ago.. 419 bahts for a 1.5 L glass bottle..

Not bad..  Now gone to 469

Have a nice day

Tesco Lotus Soi Buakhao still has it labelled 419 this morning .... but that doesn't guarantee that the till will say 419 when you go to pay of course.....

[Lucky mike]

What happened to the free trade agreement ?

[spidermike007]

4 hours ago, Lucky mike said:

What happened to the free trade agreement ?

Well, the free trade agreement only applied to ASEAN nations. And Thailand has broken nearly every promise made to ASEAN, including allowing the importation of all alcoholic beverages, from every ASEAN nation, duty free. This went into effect 18 months ago, New Years of 2017. Just a bald faced refusal to abide by an agreement that was signed by all parties. ASEAN needs to take Thailand to task, and someone needs to sue Thailand in an international court, and bring attention to the criminal acts being committed by the nation. 

[Lucky mike]

3 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Well, the free trade agreement only applied to ASEAN nations. And Thailand has broken nearly every promise made to ASEAN, including allowing the importation of all alcoholic beverages, from every ASEAN nation, duty free. This went into effect 18 months ago, New Years of 2017. Just a bald faced refusal to abide by an agreement that was signed by all parties. ASEAN needs to take Thailand to task, and someone needs to sue Thailand in an international court, and bring attention to the criminal acts being committed by the nation. 

Thought there was an agreement also between Aus/Thai as well ?

[spidermike007]

1 minute ago, Lucky mike said:

Thought there was an agreement also between Aus/Thai as well ?

Perhaps. Nearly all of the agreements that Thailand signs, when it comes to trade, are ignored. With impunity, arrogance, insularity, and a bizarre sense that Thailand is the definitive center of the known universe. 

[Skeptic7]

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I drink good wine when I am back in the states. Wine that I find here on restaurant lists for 1500 baht, I can buy for $4 in the US. Though I would not drink it! The duty here is stupid. And if the small minds at the top only realized how dynamic a wine industry this country could have, if they simply repealed the anti farang wine bill, that imposed 460% duty on wine, and jailed the senators that accepted the bribes from the local wineries. It could be a multi billion dollar industry, if they imposed a fair minded tax like 100% instead. The policy was intended to protect a handful of local wineries, who produce garbage wine.

 

The wine duty is one of the things that holds Thailand back, from being a tourist destination that wealthy tourists would consider. They object to paying $1,000 for a bottle of wine they can get at home for $150. It is offensive. Everything about wine law and wine import policy in Thailand is offensive, non-visionary, brain dead, ignorant, dumb and dumber. 

Very well said Spider...especially the final 10 -11 words. Sadly this is Thailand. Always has been and prob always will be. 

 

IMO...many very nice $5-6 bottles of US & Aussie wines sold in The States which are quite good, but ridiculously priced here. 

[spidermike007]

22 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Very well said Spider...especially the final 10 -11 words. Sadly this is Thailand. Always has been and prob always will be. 

 

IMO...many very nice $5-6 bottles of US & Aussie wines sold in The States which are quite good, but ridiculously priced here. 

I am very passionate about wine. I tend to drink wine that is in the $15-50 range, in the US. Some of these wines are simply stunning. Single vineyard pinot noirs, McLaren Shiraz, some outstanding wines from the Southern Rhone, like Chateauneuf, and Gigondas. Some very good ones for $30, to $50. Not cheap. But wines that inspire. I am not drinking to get loaded. I am drinking wine for inspiration, and exhilaration. Few of those wines are even available here, and if any can be found, they are $100 to $200. There is no way on earth I am going to spend that on a bottle of wine here. 

 

So, I tend not to drink wine here. Or the occasional decent bottle of Italian or Australian wine, that sets me back 1200 baht, and is decent at best. It is called shooting oneself in one's foot. That is what the Thai government has done. They have sabotages a potentially multi billion dollar industry, and denied themselves billions of dollars in duty, that we would be happy to pay, if the numbers made sense. 

 

No doubt the wine duty was about a small lobby, that paid a senator to pass anti fareng wine legislation, to promote a handful of very inferior domestic wineries. A myopic policy, that staggers the imagination. To think of the hundreds of billions of baht the country is losing every year. If the duty was only 100%, the wine industry here would explode. It would benefit tourism, but attracting a far higher level of tourist, the hotel industry, restaurants, and the people, and ex-pats, who could choose from good wine, at fair prices. Good wines that I pay $30-40 for in LA, cost 6,000 baht here, if you can find them. And who is going to pay that kind of money for a wine that is 80% less overseas? It is a bit like an ignorant hi-so guy paying 15,000,000 baht for a Porsche 911 here, that cost $120,000 in the US. 

 

Oh, sorry. I forgot. Making sense, and using reason are not to be expected here, especially by members of the incompetent government, who can barely get dressed in the morning, much less come up with coherent and intelligent policy. 

Edited June 5, 2018 by spidermike007

[DrTuner]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Perhaps. Nearly all of the agreements that Thailand signs, when it comes to trade, are ignored. With impunity, arrogance, insularity, and a bizarre sense that Thailand is the definitive center of the known universe. 

What is really bizarre is the counterparts are already expecting Thailand to weasel out of agreements and don't act when they do. They should bring down the big hammer and keep pounding until Thailand complies.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Perhaps. Nearly all of the agreements that Thailand signs, when it comes to trade, are ignored. With impunity, arrogance, insularity, and a bizarre sense that Thailand is the definitive center of the known universe. 

 

TH and OZ do have a so-called "free trade" agreement.

 

The following is not about wine but ask how Australia feels about having its gold mine shut down by junta order without any discussions or negotiations, and no official replies to Kingsgate Consolidated's requests for talks. Thailand utterly ignored the injured party, which is now pursuing other remedies. Chances? Zip. 

 

Now, back to your regularly scheduled topic . . . wine prices. 

[digbeth]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

...No doubt the wine duty was about a small lobby, that paid a senator to pass anti fareng wine legislation, to promote a handful of very inferior domestic wineries. A myopic policy, that staggers the imagination. T

 

Have you looked at the price of 'real' Thai wines, they are even more expensive than the fruit juice diluted imported stuff

 

There are high tariff/ excise duties on 'luxury goods' such as wines and are arbitrarily applied yes, but they are not done at the bequest of Thai wineries.

 

The real culprit would be the Lao Khao and Rum/'Thai Whisky' distilleries that would lose out if these alcohol 'sin tax' is applied rationally, like per % of the alcohol content.

[johng]

We, the consumers, have it in our own hands to stop this greedy act. Stop buying wine in Thailand!! Problem should solved soon!!

Unfortunately I fear it will only help to reinforce the monopoly...Australia and ASEAN countries where supposed to have free trade for wine beer and spirit's...someone reneged on the deal.

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

25 minutes ago, digbeth said:

The real culprit would be the Lao Khao and Rum/'Thai Whisky' distilleries that would lose out if these alcohol 'sin tax' is applied rationally, like per % of the alcohol content.

Going the same way as Carlsberg - probably....

 

Make way for Cassen Cleek boxed wine coming your way soon!!!!

[Kieran00001]

On 6/2/2018 at 1:08 PM, giddyup said:

Just been to my local booze shop, a 2 litre bottle of Castle Creek red was priced at around 430 baht only a few months back, then the price was increased to 540 baht about 2 months ago, today it is 670 baht which is ridiculous for what it is, quality they couldn't give away in Australia. I just had a look, a 4 litre cask of Stanley red (no fruit juice added) is around A$12 or 290 baht, that's half as much for twice as much. I know it's pointless to complain, but I refused to buy today just out of principle. I might add that the Montclair 2 litre bottles seem to have disappeared altogether. https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_901253/stanley-shiraz-cabernet-cask-4l

 

You take a surprising interest in the price of cooking wines.

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

1 minute ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

You take a surprising interest in the price of cooking wines.

Maybe you are onto something here..

 

Re-brand and repackage, and sell it as cooking sauce.....

 

I'll be on the sauce straight away..!!!

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I am very passionate about wine

Same, same, and I have been studying, collecting and drinking it for over 45 years now, so it was a bit of a shock to come here to see bottles of gnats p1ss being sold for the equivalent of more than NZ$20 a bottle. 

 

However as I refuse to give up my wine I had to do something about it and I did, and I now have access to some very good wines at extremely good prices, not only that, I have sourced a few from small mom and pop mini-markets which have proven to be very good for the price, and as an example, a wine from Australia called "Hopes End", although it only costs about 440 baht a bottle, is streets above anything around the 700 baht mark here.

 

There are others out there in the mid 400s and it's just a case of finding and tasting them.

 

I have thought outside of the square with regards to wine and it is proving good to me, and just the other evening I was carefully decanting a very heavily sedimented bottle of Chryseia 2005, which was supposedly retailing for around 3000 to 5000 baht, which I obtained for 600 baht.

 

I have had similar wines from McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek and a few other good Australian locations, not to mention some from Chile and Portugal.

 

Bargains are out there and if I can find them, then so can others. And in finding these bargains I have been aiming for quality in the main and cutting back on the quantity, so my wine bill has been halved.

 

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

You take a surprising interest in the price of cooking wines.

Seem like I'm not the only one.

Edited June 5, 2018 by giddyup

[Kieran00001]

3 minutes ago, giddyup said:

As does everyone else (except you) who comments here.

 

Don't take it to heart, it was meant to be a dig at the quality of the wine not you.

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

Don't take it to heart, it was meant to be a dig at the quality of the wine not you.

I'd be happy to drink vintage if it was priced reasonably, ie at prices similar to where it was produced, but not with over 400% tax added.

[Bangkok Barry]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Well, the free trade agreement only applied to ASEAN nations. And Thailand has broken nearly every promise made to ASEAN, including allowing the importation of all alcoholic beverages, from every ASEAN nation, duty free. This went into effect 18 months ago, New Years of 2017. Just a bald faced refusal to abide by an agreement that was signed by all parties. ASEAN needs to take Thailand to task, and someone needs to sue Thailand in an international court, and bring attention to the criminal acts being committed by the nation. 

 

ASEAN countries do not criticise each other, in a show of unity. A recent example is the horrific persecution that has recently taken place in Myanmar. Despite worldwide condemnation Thailand said absolutely nothing at all. Thailand in turn knows that it can do whatever it likes with impunity. Which, of course, makes ASEAN entirely pointless, but that's diplomacy for you.