New luxury wine cellar opens in Phuket

Part of a 5-star retreat called Kata Rocks, the wine cellar aims to bring premium wines to Thailand’s popular tourist destination of Phuket.

With environs like Kata Beach, any wine is bound to taste good

The cellar will also offer wine tastings, educational food and wine pairings and the chance to rent out the whole space for private gatherings.

It is part of a luxury boutique, Kata Rocks which overlooks Kata Beach in west Phuket and is located nicely underneath the resort’s infinity pool.

The cellar will carry over 300 wine and Champagne labels, including Mondavi, Schubert, Etienne Sauzet, La Chapelle and Antinori, as well as 24 brands by the glass via its Enomatic system.

It is hoped that the new wine cellar will encourage more tourists to indulge in wine, as opposed to beer

Khun Pat, the sommelier and beverage manager will host a series of ‘cheese and wine masterclasses’ in a bid to get Phuket’s tourists drinking wine, as opposed to beer which is the preferred tipple.

General Manager Scot Toon said: “Our new wine cellar adds yet another dimension to Kata luxury and we aim to give something more to our guests who can now truly expand their wine knowledge whilst visiting Phuket.”

Thailand has one of the highest tax rates on imported alcohol in Asia as the government moves to curb ‘excessive alcohol consumption’ and has banned alcohol sales within 300 metres of schools and universities.

Last year, it was also reported that beer sales were also forecast to increase by only 3-4% as Thai households curbed spending on domestic beer brands.

However, millions of tourists pour into Phuket every year – mainly from China, Malaysia and Japan as well as Australia, the US and UK where it is hoped that they will boost flagging alcohol sales.