Boathouse

"You don’t have to go to Thailand to drink good wine, but should you have in mind to head for this fascinating country, I can point you in the direction of a good bottle. Or several, in the case of our first port of call.

The Boathouse on Phuket is a phenomenon. With just 36 rooms, right on the turquoise sea, it has a lot going for it anyway, but then you settle down to dinner under the stars and they bring you the wine list. The first reaction is incredulity – do they really have all these wines? Yes, they do.

One cannot help feeling that if a dedicated owner can create and maintain a wine list like this on a Thai island, his counterparts should do the same in London and New York."

Serena Sutcliffe, Master of Wine
Head of the International Wine Department, Sotheby’s UK

Once again, Mom Tri's Boathouse wins prestigious Wine Spectator Award

The Wine Spectator Magazine just published the results of the 2008 Awards and Mom Tri’s Boathouse is proud to announce it has been honoured for the third consecutive year with the Wine Spectator Magazine ‘Best of Award of Excellence 2008’.

General Manager Louis Bronner announced the winning of the award was a great honour for Mom Tri’s Boathouse. “There are only a few of these awards granted in the whole of Southeast Asia. For our Boutique hotel and restaurant to have again been designated as a winner for the third consecutive year is excellent news. At the Boathouse we have always strived for perfection and we intend to remain  simply the best.

Mom Tri's Boathouse has held the Wine Spectator’s first-tier distinction, the  'Award of Excellence', since 1995 - longer than any other restaurant in Thailand. The effects of the tsunami made it impossible to submit the credentials in time for consideration in 2005 however the next year the Boathouse received even greater recognition. In 2006 Mom Tri’s Boathouse was once again the first and the only establishment in Thailand to receive the second-tier award, the Wine Spectator ‘Best of Award of Excellence’. 

Wine Director George Ciret stated that the Boathouse team would not rest on their laurels after again receiving this prestigious award. "We have various plans to extend our wine list even further. We list now more than 700 labels, with numerous vintages of many great wines. We have built up the list over the years to include many different wines in a wide price range and from over 15 countries. We’d like to add more wines from 'new' wine producing countries such as Portugal and Argentina and we 're also working to develop our selection of Rosé, which is one of the ‘fashion wines' popular with our Guests at the moment."

Building an award-winning wine list in Thailand is made even more challenging as, due to the small Thai market, there is just a limited availability of great wines through local wine importers. Furthermore, in Thailand one has to pay severe import taxes and duties on wine nearing 400%.

Mom Tri's Boathouse keeps its wines in perfect condition in its large wine cellar, offers excellent service and keeps the mark-up margins low compared to common practices in other countries. Guests will find a good choice of excellent wines in the price range from 1,200 – 2,000 Baht (30 – 50 US$) to accompany their dinner. Wine connoisseurs might be surprised to find that the extraordinary selection of wines at the top end of the Boathouse wine list, from 100,000 – 300,000 baht per bottle, compares very favourably price-wise to similar wines ordered at gourmet restaurants in Paris or London. 

To give Boathouse Guests an opportunity to taste different wines, and at a reasonable price, the Boathouse has 26 quality wines also available by the glass. For wine lovers, the ‘Wines by Flight’ (8 cl servings each of three different Merlots or Chardonnays) is an excellent option to sample and compare wines at relatively low cost. The Boathouse is proud to be able to offer its guests a collection of rare Armagnac and Cognac from as far back as the 1940s which can be enjoyed in standard servings as well as sampled in 2cl glasses.

Thanks to the combined efforts of General Manager Louis Bronner, Executive Chef Tummanoon, Wine Director Georges Ciret, F&B Manager Pinyo Thippimas and the Boathouse team, guests keep coming back to enjoy the best Thai and Mediterranean food, the best wines and the famous Boathouse hospitality in the Boathouse’s superb location directly on Kata Beach in Phuket.