Leading wine critic, James Suckling, returns to Thailand this December for the culmination of his latest 'Great Wines of Italy' Asian tasting tour, including a second event in Phuket. The highly-anticipated tour kicks off in Beijing on 5th December 2017, before heading to Hong Kong on 7th December. The final city leg of the Asian tour will then take place at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in central Bangkok on 8th December.
But the tour will not stop there. On 9th December, a final "chill out" tasting session will be held at The Nai Harn resort in Phuket, which opened in 2016 and is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) collection. Mr Suckling selected the wine for The Nai Harn - the first time he has ever personally curated a hotel's wine list.
The grand tasting tour will showcase Italy's most sought-after wines from more than 80 prestigious Italian brands and premium boutique wineries, all hand-picked by Mr Suckling himself. This year's tasting will also feature a screening of Suckling's documentary called, "Great Wines of Italy: Alto Adige's Vineyards in the Sky." The documentary was filmed this summer by Hollywood director James Orr, who is famous for such movies as "Sister Act Two" and "Father of the Bride." The movie focuses on the wineries and vineyards located in the stunning scenery of Northeast Italy.
"I love Thailand and I am delighted to be returning again this year, introducing Italy's finest wines to the Kingdom's consumers, restaurateurs, sommeliers and suppliers," said Mr Suckling, who has more than three decades of experience as a journalist and a wine critic, and oversees the influential website www.jamessuckling.com.
"Thai consumers appreciate Italian cuisine and culture. Italian wines are very drinkable, excellent value and provide a connection to Italy that resonates wonderfully here. It is also rounds off an incredible year for us – a year in which we have tasted over 16,000 wines and hosted over 10,000 wine participants to our events as we seek to bring great wines to customers around the world."
James Suckling rates wine using the 100-point scale, which is adopted by wine merchants and consumers alike to help them make quality purchases. Any score higher than 90 is considered the equivalent to an A grade in school exam terms, and a rating of 95 or higher is considered to be an A+. All of the wines handpicked by Mr Suckling for the Great Wines of Italy Asian tasting tour have achieved a score of at least 90 points. Italy is one of the world's oldest and largest wine-producing countries, with vineyards located in almost every part of the country. This gives Italy a wonderfully diverse selection of wines, and its so-called "Super Tuscans" such as Chianti are among the most highly-rated wines in the world.
A US national who currently resides in Hong Kong, James Suckling has been described by Forbes Magazine as "one of the world's most powerful wine critics". So far this year, he has organised 12 global wine events in the USA, Hong Kong, PR China and Thailand. The US series of the grand tasting tour earlier this year was a sell-out success, attracting nearly 3,500 attendees to events across the country.
JAMES SUCKLING THAILAND EVENTS
Great Wines of Italy: Bangkok
Grand Hyatt Erawan, Grand Ballroom
8th December 2017, 16:00 – 20:00
Tickets: THB1,000 each (until Nov 17).
Eventbrite or www.jamessuckling.com/event/great-wines-italy-bangkok-2017
Great Wines of Italy: "Limited Edition" Phuket
The Nai Harn [email protected], tel: +66 76 238 200