Monsoon Valley Grape Grazing and Stomping – brilliant fun for all!

HARVEST FESTIVAL 2021 3rd – 11th APRIL 2021

When Monsoon Valley first invited us to the annual Harvest Festival, I could not believe my Little Wren luck. It was as if all the stars were aligning for a magic night out for a big celebration.

Not only were we there to join Monsoon Valley’s family and friends to celebrate the 14th Harvest Festival but it was Mr Wren’s big birthday. We were all set to party at the Hua Hin beach a mere 35 km away but this was too good to miss. Monsoon Valley conveniently offers transport from Hua Hin for the 50-minute ride.

We’ve had our fair share of vineyards under our belt over the years. Eight years living in Belgium gave us easy access to the Alsace, Champagne, Loire, Burgundy, Bordeaux and the likes. Indeed for many years, we were in a fantastic scheme called Rent a Row of Vines where we did just that. Every Easter holidays involved packing the three children into the car and driving to  “our vineyard” where we were greeted like long lost friends to collect our wine.

The kids all remember it fondly as the best Easter holidays ever! Forget Easter egg hunts in the garden, our kids were used to having a whole hoard of chocolate eggs and bunnies to devour in the car whilst their parents were wine tasting and schmoozing with the vignerons.

We’d stagger back to the car (carrying our four cases of wine silly, not at all under the influence…) and arrive back to find the kids high on chocolate with big grins on their faces. It was a family win-win, well at least until their annual dental check-ups.

By the time we’d moved to Australia, the kids were old enough to leave home alone,  as we’d head off initially to our local Yarra Valley and on later trips to the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale.

If only we’d had Monsoon Valley on hand for its fantastic wines and laid on fun for all the family.

New latitude wines in Thailand

Our experience in Thailand involved visiting the Pattaya and Khao Yai vineyards so as wine lovers we knew that Thailand can produce some more than decent wines. We’ve certainly noticed that wine although historically not part of Thai culture seems to feature more and more on the tables of fellow Thai dinners when we are out to dinner. Or maybe that’s just the last year and we are all drinking more?!

Grape to Glass program

We joined the Grape to Glass activity with wine & tapas and were blessed with a balmy night under the stars and some wonderful company. For this, I mean others that would help my husband relive his 40-year-old fantasy to wizz down a bouncy castle like a 5-year-old! It’s a long story…

The combination of the amazing setting, warm welcoming staff, our delight to experience and learning new things about wines, great food and drink not to mention the balloon clowns, nor the aforementioned bouncy castle fun. 

Vineyard Tour – stunning countryside

Our vineyard tour seemed to go straight to grape picking but you could tell from our drive in that this was an extensive vineyard with well-established vines.  Arriving at dusk, we found a stunning location of 700 RAi (110 hectares) of vines nestled in a bowl by misty mountains.

Since its founding, the vineyard has grown to offer a wide range of wines such as Colombard and Chenin Blanc, Sangiovese, Rondo and Shiraz. Later came Muscat, Dornfelder, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.

‘Being close to the sea gives the Hua Hin vineyards an advantage as nights tend to be cooler with a fresh breeze coming from the hills, whilst the sandy and loamy soil is enriched with shells and fossils giving minerality and freshness to the wines. Giving wine lovers a choice of wines crafted in various areas that differ in character and style.’

Grape Picking – at one with nature

In all our years of wine-tasting at vineyards, this is the first time we have been invited to get so hands-on. Normally there are do not touch signs around. The Monsoon Valley’s open-air bus takes us to rows of picture-perfect shiraz grapes hanging temptingly ready for collection. We are handed a basket and a pair of secateurs.

How do we know which bunches are ready for collection we ask? The staff grin having tested the sugar levels to know that all bunches are just perfect for picking!

We are all immersed in our own world of viticulture as we snip away filling our baskets to the brim. Amongst the vines, we find a warbler’s nest with two eggs. It’s just such a perfect at one with nature activity.

You can absolutely see why many would have the dream to have their own vineyard. How lucky for Thailand that the owner had the foresight to go in search of perfect lands so that we could all have this experience.

Grape Stomping – squidgy fun

Next up another hard to believe this is Thailand moment. We find wine barrels full of grapes each with its own pair of flip flops sandals. We are invited to go barefoot grape stomping! The more you stomp the more grape juice is produced and collected via a hose to a silver bowl below. The flip flops are to wear as you wash your feet afterwards.

Wine Blending – artist at work

Back at the central Monsoon Valley wine tasting area, we are invited to blend our own wines. This was the skilled bit. First, we needed to sample the Merlot, Shiraz and the Cabernet Sauvignon. Once we’d determined exactly which characteristics we liked we could blend our perfect wine.

You taste the individuals’ components but as soon as you started to combine them the taste of the blends seemed to change dramatically  – lots more practice was needed. We decided we could spend hours on this but the band was playing and tapas awaits.

Wine & Tapas – paired to perfection

Depending on how seriously people took the blending exercise some had already imbibed a generous amount of wine by the time we’d even got to the eat, drink and be merry part.

Here we found five separate food stations. Each wine had been perfectly paired with Tapas for us to try.

On arrival, we were presented with vouchers for five glasses of different Monsoon Valley wines. Did I mention what phenomenal value the Harvest Festival was?

Live music and fun activities for kids/ bouncy castle

It was such a perfect evening. Sitting out amongst the vines enjoying the wine and tapas. A band played easy listening music. Guido Campigotto, the General Manager said a few words of welcome and this being Thailand offered some lucky draw prizes, wine of course!

The food and wines were delectable. Our favourites being the Sparking Brut Prestige and the sweet dessert Late Harvest Chenin Blanc which we headed to the store to buy on our departure.

This was a well thought out event for all ages, Everyone really appreciate the thought that had gone into providing fun for all the family – the balloon art was a big hit

Harvest Festival “From Grape to Glass” April 3rd – 11th

Vineyard tour – Grape picking – Grape stomping – Wine blending

Daytime 10 am to 4 pm daily   Cost: 390 THB / person

Evening 5 pm – 8 pm  Cost: 1,500 THB / person   Including a tapas and wine pairing degustation

More information at the Monsoon Valley website

Thank you Monsoon Valley

In all our years of visiting vineyards around the world, we were never offered the opportunity to pick grapes, enjoy grape stomping or learn the subtleties of wine blending. Never in a million years did we think we’d be doing this in Thailand either.

Thank you to Monsoon Valley for inviting us to join your Harvest Festival. It was a not to be missed wonderful evening indulging in great food, great wines and great company. Check out Monsoon Valleys website for full details of all their upcoming events.

Disclaimer: Little Wandering Wren attended the Harvest Festival as a guest of Monsoon Valley.