In Reply to: Re Bali Wines posted by Bali _Girl on Saturday, 4. February 2012 at 22:32 Bali Time:
It's been interesting reading this whole topic and I'd like to add a bit of info that might interest everyone who has commented here. First thing, Hatten and Two Islands are made by the same company. Hatten is made from table grapes grown in Singaraja (so it's watery) and Two Islands is made from a mix of these table grapes and grape juice concentrate, not fresh juice from SA as commented by pauljen. Grape juice concentrate is horrible stuff because is low quality grapes boiled down so it looks like honey and then shipped to Bali in 200 litre drums completely unrefrigerated. It also has very high volumes of Sulphur added. So the resultant wine is oversulphured, not fresh and very dark in colour. That's also why they don't put the year on the bottle because concentrate can be made from a mix of grapes from different vintages. Hey I know people that drink it but only, as they say, with lots of ice and really cold so you don't notice the taste so much. My husband and I run a hospitality business up here and we have taken the time to find out about all the wine made here. And we can tell you the best wine made in Bali is Artisan wines. These guys bought out the old Wine of the Gods winery and boy have they improved it 100%. Unlike Two Islands, they actually do ship fresh WINE grape juice into Bali to make their wines. We have tried all their varieties, including the new Sauv Blanc and Shiraz and we have met the Australian winemaker who lives up here and makes it. You won't get a better drop for the price at around the Rp180,000 - Rp200,000 retail that you will pay. I've seen it in Carrefour, Hypermart, Bali Deli, Bintang Deli, Hardy's and lots of other retails outlets up here. We buy direct fom them by the carton. Honestly it's the only wine to drink when in Bali!