While in Bangkok recently I hosted a fine-wine dinner and a masterclass for about 100 as part of the 140th anniversary celebrations of the famous Oriental hotel. After the tutored tasting there was a big walk-round tasting with cheeses supplied by affineur Philippe Olivier. (The company is, significantly for Australian cheese-lovers, adding cheese-ageing premises in Adelaide to its long-established base near Boulogne.)
I was collared by a very young Thai with a pressing question: ‘What’s the best burgundy?’ He had quite a strong accent so our conversation was not the most fluent but what emerged was that he had tried...