GranMonte Vineyard and Winery

GranMonte is the best-known name in Thailand’s small wine industry, a family-run vineyard in Khao Yai’s Asoke Valley producing wine since 1999. Guided tours run daily — 690 THB for adults, 590 THB for under-20s — with departures roughly every 1.5 to 2 hours: 10:00, 11:30, 13:00, 15:00, and 16:00 on weekdays, with extra early and late slots on weekends.

The 1.5-hour tour walks you through the vineyard rows — Syrah, Chenin Blanc, and Verdelho among the varieties grown here — before moving into the winery to see how the estate adapts European winemaking to tropical heat and humidity. It ends with a seated tasting of four wines matched with Khao Yai-made cheeses and small bites. Visooth Lohitnavy planted the first vines here in 1999 on what had been a cornfield and cashew orchard, moving his family — wife Sakuna and daughters Nikki and Mimi — to the foothills of Khao Yai to build it. Nikki Visootha Lohitnavy studied oenology at the University of Adelaide and came home to make the wine herself; she’s widely cited as Thailand’s first fully qualified winemaker, and every GranMonte bottle is her creation.

Insider Tip: Book ahead for weekend slots, particularly November through February — this is Khao Yai’s busiest season, and walk-in availability gets tight by mid-morning.

The estate restaurant, VinCotto by GranMonte, sits on site and serves food built around produce from the vineyard and neighbouring Khao Yai farms — worth booking separately if you want to turn the visit into a full lunch. The setting itself is a big part of the draw: rows of vines running toward the hills, a working winery rather than a polished visitor centre, and enough distance from Bangkok traffic that the pace slows down on its own.

Watch out: Much of the tour is outdoors and unshaded — bring a hat and sunscreen, especially for the midday slots.

From Bangkok it’s roughly two hours by road via Highway 2. Pair the visit with other vineyards in the same valley — Village Farm and Winery and Supattra Vineyard are both nearby — or fold it into a wider day around Khao Yai.