CLUB 99 Wine bar & Restaurant
Club99 Wine bar& Restaurant
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Thailand has many delights, but if you’re an oenophile (OK then, a wine fancier), you might find those delights thin on the ground – and you’re certainly not going to bag many bargains.
Until about 10 years ago, few but the swankiest bars offered wine at all. Even in a restaurant, if you asked to see the wine list you’d be more likely to get a blank look than a sauvignon blanc. Now, although it’s much more widely available, it’s also eye poppingly expensive, due to raised taxes on alcohol, however, there are some places around Bangkok that battle manfully to offer a good selection while keeping the price as reasonable as they can. Club 99 is one of them. You’ll find it at the Nine Center, a surprisingly green and pleasant community mall on Rama 9 Road, near Ramkhamhaeng. This area is stacked with office blocks and villages so, unsurprisingly, families and the after-work crowd make up most of the custom. There’s live music with a Thai band each night. It’s a cool, dark, clubby sort of place with a large, handsome, floor to ceiling wine display along one wall. The wines come from all parts of the globe, with a fairly well balanced old and new world selection. With the affable receptionists and the manager at the front-of-house, cheerfully admit that the length and breadth of their list can be slightly daunting, especially to a novice, and say they are happy to help people find their way around it. For the terminally indecisive customers, the manager says he would normally recommend one of their best sellers – the Delicato California Shiraz. Its award-winning heritage with complex aromas of spice, blackberry, and red cherry. On the palate, this wine has a soft, supple mouthfeel with flavors of blueberries, spice, and oak nuances that lead into a lingering finish; according to the manager, a real crowd pleaser and a wine for all seasons. My own choice in that light, fruity red territory would be an Italian – Velenosi Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, subtitled The Year Of The Rabbit. It has a scent of currant strawberry and raspberry taste and is fresh and fruity, smooth and soft. Amazing price, it’s only 1,300 Baht. It has the same flavour profile but, for my money, just a little more character. At 2050 baht a bottle, it’s 400 baht more costly than the Delicato, but I’d say it’s worth the difference. Before we leave this niche, a more than honourable mention must go to their Corte Giara Valpolicella, a perfect example of that highly distinctive cherries-and-pepper combination that the best Valpolicellas impart. As the manager was keen to point out, they do try to provide options in terms of grape and style, and a little bit of research by the drinker can be rewarding. For instance, they offer two Gewurtztraminers. One of them is the real deal from Alsace, France, by Gustave Lorenz. Rich, fragrant and floral, it’s a toothsome drink. But it’s given more than a run for its money – at half the price – by another Gewurtztraminer from the Santa Digna vineyard in Chile. As you might expect, the Chilean is slightly more acidic, which would make it less suitable for everyday quaffing, but also makes it an even better match for spicy food. Just to digress, it’s well known that Thai food is notoriously tricky to match with wine. So try one of these Gewurtztraminers with something like larb moo or even a green chicken curry – problem solved! Talking of victuals, Club 99 has a full international menu and the manager is fulsome in praise of their grilled sirloin steak, which comes with a chili sauce that packs a fairly serious punch. Kanok would ideally pair this with their Haras de Pirque by Antinori Carmenere Reserva. Italy’s fabled Antinori winemaking family has been in partnership with Chile’s Haras de Pirque for a decade now, and it has proved a riotous success. This spicy, juicy red is one of the jewels in the partnership’s crown. As well as the house sirloin, it goes with an incredibly wide range of food from barbecue and even oily fish like salmon, and takes very well to being served chilled. (By the way, reds are often served chilled here, to the astonishment of many westerners. But it can actually be a revelation – so please do give chilled a chance.) Finally, returning to that vexed subject of price, the manager points out that they do offer two reds and two whites by the glass. And if someone doesn’t want to finish a whole bottle, they’re more than welcome to have their name written on it and kept for next time. He also wants you to know that if price really is an issue and all you want is a fairly large quantity of drink, from 5 pm to midnight they have an all-you-can-drink deal, featuring a house red and house white.
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