When sommelier Minyoung Ryu was first offered Balinese wine, she’ll admit, “I was a sceptic”. The South Korean native had spent a decade sampling some of the very best bottles as part of her career – pinballing through countries including Hong Kong, Australia and the UK. So when she arrived in Indonesia in 2024 to head up beach resort Desa Potato Head as head sommelier, you can’t blame her for “half expecting to be politely unimpressed”.
After all, Bali isn’t exactly famed for its wine culture. Smoothie bowls in Seminyak? Sure. Breaking open a bottle of Bintang by the beach? Why not. But when it comes to wine, tough taxes push up the price of foreign bottles, thwarting consumption, and humid, tropical conditions are not ones that are usually associated with grape production.
But despite the challenges, a wine culture is beginning to bloom in Bali. Last year, a spate of bars and restaurants launched across the island, with wine at the heart of their offering – including Berawa’s Kitchen & Wine, Ubud’s Santè, headed up by Bali’s Best Sommelier 2024, and high-end Uluwatu eateries Mantra and Hidden Gem Restaurant and Wine Lounge. And the number of wineries has dramatically increased too: in 2010, there were 10 producers on the island. Today, there are 16.
“Openness is growing,” Ryu previously told the drinks business, with guests increasingly curious about what’s in the glass. And what about local wine? She looks back on taking that first fateful sip: “I thought, ‘this is genuinely better than I expected.’”
Today, Ryu serves Balinese wine at half of Desa Potato Head’s eight venues. Potato Head itself, based on Petitenget Beach, attracts younger couples with kids in tow, whereas the 225-room hotel attracts an older crowd. But when sampling local pours, Ryu notes a pattern: “Guests go through the same journey I did. A little sceptical, then surprised, then converted.”
Making the case for local wine
Characterised by a distinct tropical character, floral notes and minerality, Balinese wines are produced using vines mostly planted in the Buleleng region in the north-west of the island. Here, high elevation and cooling ocean winds pacify intense heat, while rich, volcanic soils provide nutrients for the grapes.
Pioneer Ida Bagus Rai Budarasa was first to tap into Bali’s viticultural potential when he founded Bali’s original winery, Hatten Wines, in 1994. Using both international and local grape varieties (including Propolinggo Biru and d Alphonse-Lavallée), the winery harvests three times a year to create rosés, whites, reds, and sparkling wines from 50 hectares of vines. It was crowned ‘Winery of the Year’ at the 2017 Asian Wine Review, and offers tastings at its cellar in Sanur.
Other notable producers include Isola Wines, which specialises in small-batch, organic products, and Plaga Winery, which fuses modern tech with sustainable practice.
Then, there is Sababy winery, founded in 2010 by Evy Gozali and her mother, Mulyati, with the mission of empowering local farmers, alongside Bordeaux winemaker Guillaume Quéron. Since its inception, the winery has racked up 30 international awards, and today it partners with Belle Ubud – a wine bar in Bali’s spiritual capital – which also serves a range of New World and French bottles.
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