Thread: Wine in Bali - Where and How Much

I have to say that bringing in more than your duty free allowance seems very dodgy and scary! I seem to recall handing over an additonal couple of bottles to customs last time I came through - should I have not surrendered it and offered to pay a "surcharge" ??

Vetski, just pay the rp100.000 for each bottle over the duty limit, hey, if your bottle costs $200 as one of my brothers' bottles of cognac did, then it is a bargain.Remember a shitty bottle of Oz wine that would cost $15 at home will set you back more than 4x that here, just bring it here.Don't listen to anyone that says it can't be done..it can

Hatten Aga White is currently Rp115,000 at Tip Top in Lovina (and they have cold bottles). In Hardies its over Rp130,000 I think. Today I wanted a white sparkling wine (that's their Tunjung) and went to Lovina Bakery which is never cheap but has cold bottles - and it was Rp270,000 - Ouch! I have not caught up with their Pino White and Pino Red yet - but will sure give it a try.

Over the 4-5 years I have been trying it, Hatten has improved a huge amount, and the quality control is getting better - but you can still be surprised by bottles that seem different.

I tried Hatten a few years back, seemed to be OK, especially after drinking a few glasses you got used to it. I then put it to a taste test, compared it with an average Australian wine. Holy crap, the Hatten tasted like germ warfare. Ahhh! Maybe they have improved but I've never been game enough to try it again.

In Rumours restaurant on Oberoi Street they have some quite nice wine from Chile, only Rp250,000 or Rp275,000 a bottle. Easy to drink, nice flavour. I'm no wine expert, but I'm always happy with a bottle or two of that.

Yes Hatten has been changing - try it again. It is a young industry with good equipment and they recruit wine-makers with some experience from places like Australia. The challenge to the wine-makers is working with grapes that are different. The wine can vary from bottle to bottle - occasionally there is a chemical flavour coming through. Then some variablility may be from how it is handled before you buy it. In restaurants they may keep half empty bottles too long. In shops the bottles can sit on shelves soaking the afternoon sun for weeks.

The imports at around Rp250,000 can be really good - I've seen S. American, S. African and Australian - and they can be really enjoyable. But every now and then I stop and think - that's AU$30 or more - just think of the choice you would have for that price in an Aussie wine-shop

[Hello there,
If you can send me an e-mail with contact data,i can give you the phone number of a guy that operates around Seminyak.I do not know how,but he offers wine and spirits far cheaper than in the shops.
The number was given to me by friens that own a villla in Seminyak,who regularly order from him.

[I can not send personal message,being new.If i understand well,you can find my e-mail somewhere.
(if it is to be found,why can i not write it here Bert?)

Wine is always a personal thing, but we do not like the white Hattan wine, but the Hattan rose is really nice.