Destination Portugal

Thai food and Portuguese wine make amicable partners - especially if you take the historical view

BERNIE COOPER

When the Portuguese arrived in Ayutthaya almost 500 years ago, it was the first blush of dawn for the East meets West cuisine. The Portuguese brought with them chilli peppers from their African possessions. Thai cooks made them a star component in their own national dishes, which went on to conquer the world.

Suppliers of firearms, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to come to Ayutthaya. They were permitted to open a trading station or feitoria, given settlement rights and allowed to have their own church. In the 17th century there were said to be some 2,000 Portuguese living in Ayutthaya.

Among them were soldiers who served successive kings in the defence of the city. After Ayutthaya was sacked in 1767 there were Portuguese soldiers in the army of King Taksin, and the Portuguese community was given land rights and a church in the new capital.

Portuguese wines, with the exception of port, have arrived here only recently, and largely with the help of Fin, a company that has been introducing many new tastes to Bangkok's wine world.

The Portuguese have been making wine for centuries, and some years ago Mateus Rose with its pretty, round flask, became a worldwide favourite. But it seems that the wine revolution that began in the New World and sparked so many new ventures into wine and improvements in quality was a late arrival. Port, the rich, aristocratic dessert wine, was always king; but now the "dry wine revolution" has secured its own place on the map, and Fin presented the wines of two companies both operating in the steep hillsides of the Port region of Douro in the north of Portugal.

The introduction was made at its first Wine Explorer event at the Shangri-La Hotel's riverside Salathip Thai restaurant, which they called "Destination Portugal." It celebrated the Portuguese wines with Thai food in a Thai setting, but the evening began, appropriately enough, further upstream with aperitifs at the Portuguese embassy.

It is surely the most beautiful embassy in Bangkok. The building was not completed until 1875, but it has the well-balanced proportions of a mid-19th century grand house with the classical elegance of the early years of the 19th century. European in character, it has Chinese and Thai influences, too, and, seen from the river, it unfailingly excites admiration from river cruises.

Welcomed by the Ambassador and Madame Faria y Maya, the 20 guests tasted Portuguese snacks like peixinhos da horta (fish from the garden), green beans fried in batter shaped like little fish while gentle fado music shimmered in the air, before taking ship for the far shores of the Shangri-La.

As they took their seats at Salathip, the first wine served was from a cooperative in Douro, Lavadores de Feitoria founded in 1999 by 15 of the top growers (or lavadores) in the region.

They make blended wines from the best quality local grapes such as tinta roriz and touriga francesa with some international varieties, and also single quinta (estate) wines. Their obvious commitment to excellence is underscored by the desire to see Portuguese wines taking their rightful place in the world.

Their 2004 Tres Bagos (three grapes) white wine was an aromatic blend of viosinho, malvasia and sauvignon blanc, very fresh, slightly acidic with a little touch of oaky vanilla. Clean tasting with citrus and herbal flavours it was refreshing and perfectly at home with a selection of Thai appetisers.

Pomelo salad with its pronounced, sweet-sour flavour would be a tougher test for a white wine, but 2005 Tres Bagos sauvignon blanc had the answer: the aroma and taste of pomelo were clearly present on the nose and on the palate. It was brisk and assertive but also fatter and more unctuous than one from the Loire or New Zealand. With the pomelo in a half-shell was a juicy tiger prawn, together making up a juicy parcel of flavours.

As the next dish, tom kha gai, was being served, the delicate ching-ching of finger cymbals announced the steeple-crowned dancers whose willowy performance accompanied every course. With the soothing chicken and coconut soup came a red wine, 2004 Quinta do Crasto, whose family estate stands high on a promontory overlooking the River Douro along which boats have carried wine down to the docks at Oporto for centuries.

The wine is a blend predominantly of touriga francesa and tinto roriz and between dry and fruity in character. It has a good depth of fruit, and firm tannic structure and a good, dry finish. Tom kha gai is a comforting dish and this wine made a comfortable match with it.

An earlier vintage of red Tres Bagos, the 2001, raised the stakes with its intense berry fruit flavour with hints of tar and liquorice. This kind of intensity was just the thing for chicken piri-piri. I don't think anyone is going to claim that the Portuguese introduced grilled chicken to Thailand, but piri-piri is the African name of a small, hot chilli that they make into a piquant sauce. Barbecued chicken and chilli sauce: very Thai and also very Portuguese.

Beef tenderloin with massaman curry and jasmine rice with saffron and raisins has no Portuguese connections, but 2001 Tinto reserva from Quinta do Crasto has a very strong local identity. At Quinta do Crasto, they continue traditions of proven worth even though they are committed to modern winemaking technology. This is why they still tread the grapes for certain wines, tipping them into wide, stone tanks called lagares. Encouraged by dance music, teams of workers crush the grapes with their feet.

The 2001 Tinto Reserva grapes from 65-year-old vines were trodden in this way, and as a reserva, the wine was matured in French and American oak barriques for 18 months. It is a lovely balance of rich, intense plum and raspberry flavours with spicy notes, smooth tannins and a satisfying finish.

And so to port, a 1999 Quinta do Crasto Late Bottled Vintage Port served with the golden-yellow desserts based on egg yolks, originating in Portugal but now so much a part of the Thai tradition: foi thong, thong yip, thong yod, khanom morgaeng and luk choop.

Late Bottled Vintage Ports, or LBVs, are among the most refined members of the port family. Most are blends from different years to preserve their character and freshness, but ports from outstanding harvests may have the right, conferred by the Port Wine Institute, to declare the vintage and the date of bottling on its label. LBVs are usually bottled after four or five years ageing in cask.

The Quinta do Crasto 1999 was rich and smooth, not in any way heavy, but well rounded and silky on the palate. Gorgeous flavours of plum, red fruit, figgy dried fruit and chocolate lingered on the palate with a long-lasting finish.

The idea of celebrating the fifth centenary of the relationship between Thailand and Portugal is an appealing one. It actually began in 1511 - but there's no need to wait.

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Sunday April 08, 2007