Funky, weird and hard to understand—these are the preconceptions that have so many Bangkokians steering clear of natural wine. We’ve become so accustomed to mass-produced labels with their expertly tweaked tastes and neat profiles that the complexity of something less controlled has us befuddled. “The natural wine scene in Thailand hasn’t kicked off properly due to a lack of knowledge. There are still misperceptions of the character and taste of natural wines as fizzy, oxidized or vinegary. This tends to make consumers either dislike them or pretend to like them just to be trendy,” says Benjawan Wisootsat, managing director of Fin Wine, a pioneering importer of natural wine to Thailand for 15 years. She continues, “it is definitely growing, though—soon people will understand more about natural wines and how delicious they can be, then they won’t have to pretend to like it anymore.”

For Milan Rukavina, who joins Kojic in running Wet from his own wine bar in Croatia, the beauty of low-intervention wines is their lack of consistency. “It’s wrong if you have a cool season one year and a warm season the next year and the wine tastes the same. That’s impossible,” says Milan. “If you always have the same wine then what’s the point? I want to feel the character, the expression of that season.”

 

 

 

Let’s face it, it’s not just the natural wine scene that is struggling to grow, it’s the wine scene in general. Cocktails remain a big deal in Bangkok and are seen as something fun and casual, but why does everyone think that wine is reserved for luxury times only? “I don’t think there is a wine scene here at all,” says Elaine Sun, co-owner of Kangkao and Ku Bar. “For a few reasons. First, a lack of interest, as cocktails are still the ‘hottest’ thing right now in Bangkok. Second, a lack of understanding—from what I’ve observed, a lot of consumers still see wine as a luxury item that must always be paired with dinner. Third, so many people are intimidated by wine, even more so by natural wine—they have less knowledge about it, and are uncomfortable going to a wine bar, afraid of asking ‘stupid questions’,” she concludes.

Benjawan adds, “it was already difficult enough for us to be the first to bring white wines into the market where the majority of the consumers only drank reds and to be the first to bring in Austrian and German wines was also something challenging.” In a market so limited, can consumers be receptive to wines that push the boundaries?

 

Tax on alcohol in Thailand is crazy-high. Not only do you have to pay excise tax, you also have to pay custom duties, which tends to place wine at a luxury price point. “Natural wine starts at around 20 Euros a bottle in a Paris bistro; here it’s possibly double or higher,” says Kim Wachtveitl, managing director of Wine Garage, who for the last six years has focused on importing from generations-old family-owned wineries as well as newcomers from countries like Austria, Spain and Portugal.

Sun also sees price as a barrier, “Wine is expensive, which can make consumers afraid of ordering a wine that will disappoint them.” Rose Natural Wine Bar’s partner Aukkarapoan Phanuwongkun agrees, “The alcohol scene is growing strong in Thailand but the tax structure allows cheaper, low-quality products to grow more than the high-quality ones.”

Yet Wachtveitl sees hope yet: “The Bangkok natural wine scene is a work in progress, but like all things that we adopt here, it’s on a fast track to catch up with New York, London, Paris or Tokyo. The array will be tough to emulate, but I fully believe a natural wine lover can have some fun here.”