There is a particular hour on Koh Jum, somewhere after four, when the heat loosens its grip and the Andaman turns the colour of pale brass. It is the hour the island exhales. This October, it is also the hour we are opening the Wine Room to something extra special for wine lovers and enthusiasts.
On the evenings of October 29th and 30th, two of the southern hemisphere’s most quietly exceptional wine houses arrive on the island. One from Tasmania, one from Marlborough. Both small, both family minded, both making wine in places where the weather is the first and most demanding partner in the process.
House of Arras, Tasmania
If you have not met Tasmanian sparkling wine, this is a very good introduction. House of Arras has spent three decades proving that the island at the bottom of Australia can produce sparkling wine of genuine international stature, and the wine world has noticed. The house was named Winery of the Year for 2027 by the Halliday Wine Companion, and its chief winemaker, Ed Carr, has collected Sparkling Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge in London more than once.
What makes it work is cold. The vineyards sit across Tasmania’s valleys and coasts, exposed to the winds of the Roaring Forties and the cold currents of the Great Southern Ocean. Grapes ripen slowly there, holding on to the natural acidity that gives fine sparkling wine its spine. The wines are then made in the traditional method, the same approach used in Champagne, and left to mature on their lees for years rather than months. That long, patient wait is where the bready, creamy depth comes from, and it is the difference between a wine that is merely fizzy and a wine that is complex.
Two cuvées will be on the tasting table. Brut Elite Cuvée 1801 spends four years in tirage and shows white stone fruit, grapefruit and a saline minerality, with a fine and persistent bead. A by Arras Premium Cuvée Rosé NV, thirty months on lees, is a soft salmon pink, all rose petal, red berry and cream.
Tiraki, Marlborough
Tiraki means “clearing of the sky” in Māori, which is a fair description of what Marlborough light does to a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The wines come from Longfield Farm, land the Hammond family has cared for since 1870, and the estate is now New Zealand’s first B Corp certified wine brand.
That last detail is why Tiraki is here. B Corp certification is not a label a producer buys. It is an audited standard covering how a company treats its land, its workers and its community, and very few wine businesses hold it. For a resort that works to Travelife Gold standards, partners with the Chao Ley community and grows a good deal of its own food, pouring wine from a producer held to the same scrutiny matters. Sustainable sourcing is not only about food miles. It is about knowing who made the thing in your glass, and how.
Their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir will all be open across both evenings.
Why sparkling wine belongs at a Thai table
Here is the part most wine lists get wrong. Thai food is difficult for wine, because chilli, lime, fish sauce and herbs arrive all at once and in volume. Big, oaky, high alcohol wines simply surrender.
Fine sparkling wine does the opposite. The acidity refreshes the palate between mouthfuls, the bubbles lift and carry the aromatics, and the subtle bread and cream notes from lees ageing soften the heat rather than fighting it. A cool climate Pinot Noir, served lightly chilled, works on much the same principle. Try it with something sharp and herbal and the match makes its own argument.
The Winemakers Dinner
On October 30th, the tasting flows into something more intimate. From 6.30pm, guests gather at the bar over a glass of House of Arras sparkling, before sitting down at 7pm at Driftseed Restaurant and Bar for a Thai sharing dinner with the winemakers.
Dinner is served the Thai way. Four starters and three mains arrive together rather than in courses, placed at the centre of the table, balancing sweet, sour, salt and heat across the meal. It is how Thai families have always eaten, and the logic is social as much as culinary. Nothing belongs to one person. Everyone reaches, everyone tries a little of everything, and a meal becomes an evening.
We finish with something quietly unexpected: artisan cheeses from Jartisann, a small cheeserie in Chiang Mai hand making cheese from local cow, goat and buffalo milk. Thai cheese is a young tradition, and a very good one.
The dinner is limited to fourteen guests.
How to join us
Wine Tasting · October 29 and 30, 4.00 to 6.30pm, The Wine Room. Free for resort guests, no booking needed.
Winemakers Dinner · October 30, drinks from 6.30pm, dinner at 7.00pm, Driftseed Restaurant and Bar. Limited to fourteen guests. THB 2,750++ per person, wines included.
A special villa rate is available for October 29 and 30 for guests joining us for the event.
To reserve a seat at the dinner, write to info@kohjumbeachvillas.com.
