The dragon speaks: Tasting the first wines from Bhutan
Called to an intimate gathering in Paris, Chris Howard had a chance to taste the first wines produced in the tiny mountain kingdom of Bhutan. He gives his first impressions and reflects on what it's like to try wines for which no other point of reference really suffices.
‘Denken ist danken’ – ‘thought is gratitude’, wrote the German philosopher Martin Heidegger.
Among the many thought and gratitude-provoking aspects of the world, wine is certainly one of them. But some wines more than others.
When I found myself among a small group tasting Bhutan Wine Company’s inaugural commercial release in a Paris apartment, gratitude seemed the only appropriate response – and deep curiosity.
Tasting notes for Bhutan’s first wines included below
A Paris tasting
Leading the tasting were Mike Juergens and Ann Cross, the American couple whose serendipitous trip to run a marathon in Bhutan led to them founding the Bhutan Wine Company in 2018.
We tasted blind through the 2024 Ser Kem range: four whites and three reds.
While Juergens insisted he was simply interested in our impressions, the ritual quickly veered into the familiar game of ‘name that grape!’
Despite the distinguished palates around the table, including wine writer Jane Anson and Amayès Aouli, Bonhams global head of wine and spirits, our collective success rate was humbling.
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What I confidently declared to be Chardonnay was in fact barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc, while my Sauvignon Blanc guess was off-dry Riesling.
Nothing like blind tasting to boost one’s confidence.
The first wine stumped everyone, though we weren’t too far off with vague associations with Alsace.
Turned out it was Traminette, an American hybrid that is half Gewürztraminer.
Redeeming myself slightly on the reds, I correctly identified the first as Pinot Noir, while other guesses ranged from Syrah to Carmenère.
I nailed the next one too – a right bank Bordeaux-style blend – but completely missed the third.
Yet who doesn’t confuse Himalayan Tempranillo with Cabernet Sauvignon?
Reference points
Our group’s follies spoke less about the precision of Bhutanese wine than the frameworks we brought to them.
Wine tasting, after all, is cultural – a learned practice shaped by particular contexts, languages, and institutions.
Within these cultural boundaries, we cultivate our understanding of wine, generally forgetting that we are operating within partial worldviews.
‘A point of view is always a view from somewhere,’ noted the psychologist William James.
This relativity becomes especially apparent when tasting wines from a country with no history of viticulture, whose language (Dzongkha) lacks words for grape or wine.
Tasting the Bhutanese wines, we defaulted to familiar reference points, mostly to French regions and grapes.
The Sauvignon Blanc, for instance, was likened to white Bordeaux, the Chenin the Loire.
This says a lot about how we think about wine and, more broadly, how we interpret the world.
The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu coined the term ‘hysteresis effect’ to describe how our understanding of the present and future is always shaped by past knowledge and experiences.
There is no blank slate.
The reliance on typicity – the expected characteristics of a wine from a specific region or grape – reveals its limitations when applied to wines from such different environments.
As the climate mutates, altering grapes, wine styles, and tastes, typicity itself demands scepticism and openness, despite the certitude offered by dusty wine textbooks and certification schemes.
Wine and culture evolve – and our concepts, frameworks, and tastes must evolve with them.
Letting the Dragon speak
Reflecting on the tasting, Aouli put it well, saying: ‘There was a striking old-world precision to them – a classical backbone – but threaded through with something entirely new, a kind of spirited wildness.
‘Grape varieties we thought we understood – Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling – unfolded in unfamiliar and captivating ways, shaped by the altitude, the soils, and the singular energy of the place.
‘It was as if the land itself had reinterpreted these grapes in its own voice.’
Energy was the unifying thread through the wines. That’s not to say power, as all were under 13% abv.
The vibrant whites outshone the somewhat rustic reds. The young Bordeaux blend and Tempranillo were matured in 100% new French oak barrels, and the wood was quite apparent on these young wines.
The Pinot Noir, on the other hand, was made in a glass demijohn with Bhutanese oak chips – essentially a garage wine from the roof of the world.
It turns out Bhutan is home to a wide range of oak species, so homegrown barrels are in the making.
A promising start
By general agreement, the wines were good, especially for a country with no precedent.
As Aouli notes: ‘These are wines born of young vines, yet they carry a quiet wisdom and poise well beyond their years.’
The first result of this giant experiment is even more impressive when you consider the challenges Bhutan Wine Company faced during the 2024 vintage.
For starters, their initial winemaker jumped ship mid-harvest (fortunately, Californian Matt Brain stepped in).
Then two weeks of heavy rains created disease pressure.
Add raiding bands of monkeys, cobras, leopards, and grape-piercing wasps, off-grid vineyards at 1,500-meter elevations and a makeshift urban winery, and you appreciate the achievement.
The emergence of Bhutanese wine illustrates that what we call the ‘wine world’ is not a noun but a verb – an active, open process of world-making.
We are participants, not passive subjects or mere ‘consumers’.
Anson made the observation: ‘One of the ways you can gauge the success of a tasting is how quickly it takes people to break off into small groups to excitedly discuss the wine.
‘That happened here every time there was a lull between pourings, with a sense of energy flowing from the glass to the group.’
When Spinoza wrote: ‘We don’t know what a body can do,’ he was pointing to the indeterminacy of human potential.
It seems to me that Bhutan Wine Company is following a similar line of inquiry, recognising that we still don’t know what a grape can do. What can Himalayan wine become?
The results of the first taste were promising, and I, for one, am grateful to witness it all unfold.
Tasting Notes
(We were requested not to score this first vintage as the vines, wines and project are still in their infancy)
Bhutan Wine Company Traminette 2024
A heady American hybrid of Gewürztraminer and Joannes Seyve 23.416, it opens with enticing aromatics of elderflower, nashi pear, and lychee. Medium acidity carries tropical, pink grapefruit and honey notes through a viscous, lanolin texture through a dry, mouthwatering finish. Made for young drinking and pairing with Bhutan’s spicy cuisine, it’s fresh and approachable. Fermented and aged for six months in stainless steel tanks.
12.5%
Drink: now–2027
Bhutan Wine Company Ser Kem Karp Reserve 2024
‘Karp’ means white in the Dzongkha language of Bhutan. This lively Loire style blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc displays unexpected aromatics of ripe pear and apricot and a whisper of vanilla from partial oak ageing. Buoyant acidity is counterbalanced by pleasant textural weight, reflecting the 75/25 split between steel tank and new French oak élévage. Faint gunsmoke on a long, mineral finish.
12.5%
Drink: 2026–2028
Bhutan Wine Company Sauvignon Blanc 2024
I might be forgiven for thinking this unorthodox, barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc was Chardonnay. Lemon-lime and peach laced with lactic, butterscotch and vanilla notes and struck match on the nose. Fresh and vigorous, yet rich, mouthfilling texture, showing complexity and ageing potential. Fermented and aged in 100% new french oak for nine months.
12.8%
Drink: 2027–2029
Bhutan Wine Company Riesling 2024
Honey and lime over pineapple and peach, with some faint herbal and wet stone notes. Zippy acidity is pleasantly offset by 9g/l RS, creating drive and balance. Long, slightly saline finish. The white that probably impressed the group most, it’s highly versatile, as is this noble grape’s custom. Fermented and aged in stainless steel for five months.
12.3%
Drink: 2026–2030
Bhutan Wine Company Pinot Noir 2024
Light and airy and lifted floral aromatics. Sweet red cherry and raspberry flavours along with some campfire and cracked pepper notes that almost made me think it was Syrah. Soft tannins, it’s round and juicy, finishing with some tart, youthful astringency. Fermented in stainless steel tanks and matured for six months in a glass demijohn with Bhutanese oak chips, as there wasn’t enough wine to fill a barrel.
12.2%
Drink: now-2027
Bhutan Wine Company Marp Reserve 2024
This tight, right bank Bordeaux style blend displays a savoury, dried herbal character that is familiar yet showing a personality of its own. Medium-bodied, bright acidity and considerable tannic grip that will lessen with some time at rest. Merlot dominant, supported by Cabernet Sauvignon. Matured in 100% new French oak.
12.5%
Drink: 2030+
Bhutan Wine Company Tempranillo 2024
Dark and brooding, displaying concentrated black cherry, old leather and earthy undertones. The energetic fruit verges on being overshadowed by firm tannins that need time to soften and integrate. Matured in 100% new French oak.
12.5%
Drink: 2030+