A Wine Tale of Two Cities: Jakarta and Bangkok(2)

            A couple of days in the company of some locals demonstrated Jakarta
            as a capital in the truest sense, where the many diverse cultures of
            Indonesia come together.  The city offers a wonderfully diverse
            range of local and far-flung foods coming from Indonesia's many
            islands and some incredibly remote areas.  Rice (nasi) is a staple
            ingredient of many of the cuisines though noodles are also very
            popular.  One of my lunches consisted of some deliciously spicy
            noodles with dried chicken taken in one of the city's many cafes. 
            The next day we had a lunch of delicacies from Manado, the capital
            of Sulawesi Utara (an island peninsula).  The food from this region
            can be blisteringly spicy (I've a high chilli tolerance), tending to
            focus on piquantly prepared fresh fish, although it also
            incorporates some unorthodox meats such as fruit bat (paniki), which
            I sampled (wings and all) and found, well, intriguing.
            The main-event wine dinner offered a less exotic though perhaps more
            wine-friendly Asian-European fusion menu, expertly prepared.  It was
            attended by a group of around thirty avid local wine collectors and
            I found myself sat next to what has to be one of Jakarta's most
            passionate and generous.  After the event had finished he invited
            the hosts and I to join him at his home to sample a few bottles from
            his cellar.
            Blankets were handed round as we descended the stairs to the man's
            cellar ?nothing less than a truly extraordinary collection. 
            Gathered on stools round a tasting table, a bottle of Krug Clos
            d'Ambonnay 1995 was fetched and placed before our small crowd,
            sparking as you can imagine considerable excitement.  It was agreed
            that we couldn't just stampede into such a privilege, so a very
            elegantly styled De Sousa Brut NV Rose led us gently into what
            transpired to be a very late night of wine abandon.  The pink fizz
            gave way to an earthy and profound bottle of 1964 Paul Etienne
            Hermitage followed by the Ambonnay ?savoury, intense and
            full-of-itself ?and then onto an invigoratingly vibrant 1985 Henri
            Gouges Nuits Saint Georges Les Vaucrains.  And there were a couple
            of mishaps along the way:  a very disappointing prem-oxed 1996 Leroy
            Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres and a 1993 Frederic Mugnier
            Chambolle Musigny Les Amoreuses (that we all agree was just wrong). 

            At around three a.m., about the time that appendages started going
            blue from the twelve degree cold, we emerged from the cellar for a
            last blinded bottle ?Henri Jayer's 1993 Vosne-Romanee Beaumonts ?
            another incredible example of this late producer's complex, seamless
            work.  Then homemade chicken soup was ladled steaming into bowls and
            handed round the table.  It may have been the company of my new
            friends, the warmth, the lingering remnants of those awesome wines
            or just being in Jakarta, but man that soup tasted good.
            Bangkok
            Unless you're completely oblivious to world news, you may have
            noticed that Bangkok has played scene to a spot of political
            upheaval in recent months.  Which for me at least has been a little
            difficult to imagine since Thailand and its people appear incredibly
            welcoming and friendly.  Nonetheless, for much of December 2008
            Bangkok airport was overtaken by protestors and out-of-action
            causing a lot of visiting winemakers to cancel or divert Bangkok
            trips during that period.  The recent troubles have had a
            devastating effect on tourism in Thailand with the ripples
            stubbornly remaining.
            So when I recently landed in Bangkok, the airport was nearly
            deserted and I managed to clear the ordinary onerous immigration
            queue in an unheard of matter of around ten minutes.  This was a
            bonus for me since I was only in Bangkok for one night, on a mission
            to lay the ground-work for a special wine event to occur in a few
            weeks time, and I wanted to spend any spare moments enjoying this
            steamy, frenetic city that so aptly straddles the old and the new.
            As it transpired, spare moments were in short supply.  But I did
            manage an early evening constitutional before meetings and dinner
            along the eastern side of the Mae Nam Phraya River (rivalling the
            Thames for murkiness), watching the busy water briskly carry the
            local ferries full of passengers from side to side and out of sight.
            My evening was spent at the beautifully historic Oriental Hotel (now
            rebranded as a Mandarin Oriental) and kicked-off with an aperitif at
            the manager's weekly cocktail party, where I was persuaded to try
            the house cocktail.  I'm not normally much of a cocktail person but
            this was a "Tom Yum Cocktail" and being a big fan of this aromatic,
            spicy soup, I was curious to see how if could be developed into a
            drink.  In fact it worked very well with just the right amount of
            citrusy sweetness, lemongrass as a stirrer and a real kick of fresh
            chilli.