Background: After several years of using contract winery to produce GranMonte wines, though under supervision and direction by GranMonte's owners (Visooth, Sakuna and Nikki Lohitnavy), we, the GranMonte management team, have decided to set up our very own winery in the estate's vineyard for cost effeciency, flexiblility and quality enhancement.
It took a mere four months from decision-making and ordering of equipments from overseas in mid-September 2008 to installing equipments in mid-January 2009.
The test run of the winery took place in the last week of the same month before the white wine grapes, Chenin Blanc, were brought in.
Here are the story and photos of GranMonte Asoke Valley Winery's historical moments. Within seven days in the third week of January 2009, we successfully moved into our new winery and assembled the equipments just in time for the first crushing of grapes which was to begin in last week of the month. We had an international team of winemakers to work with us in this first crunch period of starting the winery; our Nikki, her Australian student friend from University of Adelaide, Tim Bartsch, assistant winemaker from New Zealand, Morgan Williams and consulting oenologist from Germany, Peter Hoehnen.