My wanderings in Myanmar took me to Red Mountain just outside Nyuang Shwe in the Shan Province. Located above Lake Inle with a superb view of the surrounding countryside, the site and facilities are stunning, as if they had been brought here by well-meaning missionaries with unlimited resources. In any case, the dimensions are breathtaking for an estate that still produces less than 100,000 bottles a year. Francois Raynal, a French enologist who has been here for ten years fetched me at the airport in Heho, showed me their 75 hectares of vineyards - all on Terra Rossa soils that give the estate its name - and then allowed me to taste almost every wine that he has ever made. As the vines are still young, the best is certainly yet to come, as a barrel tasting of the 2011s only too amply demonstrated, but a 2009 Shiraz indicates that surprisingly uniquely wines can already be produced here. That said, growing grapes in a tropical climate will remain challenging. Often the white wines, such as the Sauvignon Blancs here, display more character, but the locals definitely prefer reds...with a lot of sumptuous stuffings. Comments