The Hua Hin Hills Vineyard is nestled at the foot of a central hill belt west of Hua Hin in Thailand and located on a former elephant corral where wild Asian elephants were domesticated. The terrain is mainly loamy sand and slate which is ideal for grape cultivation. This project was initiated by Siam Winery after earlier experimentation at the nearby Royal Research Station at Huay Say in 2003. With the nearby seaside resort town of Hua Hin this provides this area with its first boutique vineyard.

Once again we had travelled to Hua Hin for the Hua Hin Hills Vineyard 2016 Harvest Festival Dinner which we enjoyed so much last year.

Our complimentary pick up service collected us from Hua Hin and it was about a one hour’s drive up to the hill country where the vineyard is located. Arriving on site we were welcomed by the staff and enjoyed some wonderful grape juice cocktails in the shade of the trees at the edge of the vineyard.

After the welcome drinks we then collected some baskets and clippers and headed into the vines to collect white grapes so we could have an experience of collecting then crushing the grapes.

We carried our baskets of grapes to the processing shed where the grapes were washed then hand crushed in large plastic tubs then crushed again in a small processor. We had the chance to taste the freshly harvested grape juice served with some ice and which was sweet and refreshing.

With the new 2016 red and white vintages now ready for sale we got to sample these wines. There was a competition to come up with a new name for both the red and white varieties and the winner to be announced over dinner.

The Harvest Sunset Dinner was set out in the middle of the vineyard with a simple long table and straw bales for seats. The setting was wonderful sitting in the midst of the vines and we had some local jazz musicians to play during dinner.

The farm style 4 course dinner with multi tasting shared mains was served along with the Monsoon Valley wines and we also got to taste the 2008 Monsoon Valley Cuvee de Siam Rouge.

Our friend Rick Russell won the naming competition for the new 2016 red wine with his innovative name of “Monsoon Sunset” and won himself a lovely limited edition bottle of the Monsoon Valley Cuvee de Siam red wine.

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Passionate Photographer …. Lost in Asia

Stuart Taylor of HighlanderImages Photography has been making images for over 25 years and can offer a diverse range of photo imaging services with a focus on Asia and a documentary/photojournalistic style. These services include planning and executing a photo shoot on location but importantly all the post-processing and image preparation needed for the specific finished media format required by the customer. Stuart’s experience and knowledge in all of these aspects makes HighlanderImages Photography a one-stop-shop for a comprehensive and professional image production service.

Stuart can be available for a variety individual assignments or projects and he specialises in areas such as photojournalism, commercial, architectural, real estate, industrial, interior design, corporate, urbex, adventure, wilderness and travel photography. Stuart can also offer some innovative and advanced techniques such as HDR (High Dynamic Range) and Panoramic Photography.

Final image products can be delivered as high resolution images, prints, books, multimedia slideshows, videos and DVDs. Images from this website can be purchased as prints in a variety of sizes and media, as gift items or as digital downloads.

E-Mail : staylor@highlanderimages.com
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