Langkawi Land of Duty Free
Most Duty Free Shops Open from 10AM-10PM
Langkawi is about a 30 minute flight from Penang, and is located on Malaysia's west coast.
AirAsia and Fireflyz are two low cost airliners popular to take to Langkawi; my round trip ticket cost 160rm.
Scooter and car rental is simple and you can ride around the whole island in about 2hrs.
The main strip and bustling end of the island, Cenang, has loads of shops, restaurants, hotels, and a number of beaches. If you manage to get away from the main strip you'll see that Langkawi is still a laid back little village island with an array of other beaches and jungles to trek. The local food is still very much affordable, and if you want to try your Malaysian food and wine pairing experiments, this is the place to do it! Why? Trial and error won't cost you too much, being that all the booze is duty free.
So what does a wino do while on a duty free island?
I arrived on the island at about 5pm, hopped a cab from the airport to the guesthouse I was staying in, in Pantai Tengah for 22rm; checked in, then made my way to the closest duty free shop.
This Riesling/Gewurztraminer blend from South Australia was 25rm, high in acidity, refreshing and suitable for the beach, but overall this bottle was pretty one dimensional.
The first problems I encountered with wanting to have wine on the beach was
1) I need ice
2) I need an ice chest
3) I need glasses
Finding ice was fairly easy, just pop into a number of mini marts along the busy strip in Cenang and you'll find bags of ice. The price varied from 1rm-3rm per bag, so look around a bit.
I could not find an ice chest, wine cooler bags, or glasses! So I highly recommend bringing your own if you plan on enjoying wine on the beach.
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| Butterfly Ridge Riesling Gewurztraminer South Australia |
Sturdy plastic ice bags or lunch coolers are fairly easy to find in the supermarkets in Malaysia (main land) or anywhere nowadays.
I ended up using my plastic shopping bags from the duty free shops and just put ice in them, but the ice would quickly melt.
If only I could find the bags like below.....
ZON is one of the biggest duty free shops in Cenang, and they do have quite the wine, and spirits collection, but with duty free wine, can also come some complications.
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As you can see Santa Helena is on sale at "Zon" duty free shop.
How are these bottles able to be so cheap?
Santa Helena Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon are from Central Valley Chile, a bulk production area for wine in Chile. These type of bottles are made in mass quantity and sold at low prices in order to seek high turnover, since these bottles most likely won't stand the test of time.
These type of bottles are similar to Central Valley California, South Eastern Australia, etc....
Don't expect anything extraordinary out of these bottles.
The wine gets typically better, the more region specific you get.
Pictured below is a more region specific wine from Australia, the Yarra Valley.
The Yarra Valley's climate is moderate and maritime and Pinot Noir is their specialty (meaning Pinot does well in this area's soil and climate)
The cost for these bottles are around 50rm each.
I decided to purchase all 3, and yes the Pinot Noir Rose was amazingly juicy, delicate, well balanced, and the perfect beach and BBQ wine.
The nose on this wine was also surprising; it came off as savory and herbal, but the palate begged to differ.
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| La Boheme Dry Pinot Noir Rose Yarra Valley Australia |
There are 3 acts of La Boheme available in Langkawi.
Vintage Check!
At first glance I was thinking wow what a great deal! but you must take the vintage into consideration. Sometimes older vintages in cheaper wines are sold at a huge discount in order to get these bottles off the shelf. This is great if that certain type of wine, and or grape variety ages well.
Unfortunately the 2004 Climbing Cabernet from Orange Australia was way past its best, right along with the Beaujolais.
Region specific French wines
Good old Robert Mondavi, if you have been wanting to try these bottles, now is your chance! They are just slightly cheaper than the main land, Malaysia.
Bubbly on the beach is always a good idea.
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc...great hot weather wine.
After having dinner and making a few new friends from the guest house we decided to head to the beach and enjoy a night swim session.
Happily sipping on the much missed Pinot Gris (not easy to come by in Penang), the night couldn't seem to get any better...but it did! As I swam in the moon lit waters, tiny neon blue lights would glow around me (I referred to it as sea glitter) or it's better know as...glowing sea plankton; something I've only seen one other time in my life.
A Tasty Pinot Gris
The nose on this Pinot Gris gave off faint hints of orange rind and blossoms, but the palate was an amusement of silk, zippy acidity, and flavors of orange, orange zest, pineapple, and cloves; ending with a passion fruit and citrus driven medium finish.
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| La Boheme Pinot Gris & Friends Yarra Valley Australia |
The next day started early on my duty free wine journey.
Located in the Telaga Harbour Park sits,Tapaz Restaurant, Nice View, among many other harbor front restaurants and bars.
Tapaz invites you to purchase wine from the duty free shop located behind Tapaz in Perdana Quay, which is where I was heading.
Corkage
40rm for wine
100rm for spirits
Happy Hour Draft Tiger 4rm a glass
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| Baba Ganoush with pita bread |
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| Fried calamari |
A short walk from Tapaz, still located in Perdana Quay is Grandiouse Duty Free wine, spirits, and beer shop.
This shop is small indeed, but has a beautiful selection of old world wines and new, which you won't find anywhere else on the island. I was especially giddy at the site of their Austrian wine selection, something I do not cross paths with often in Malaysia, as of yet.
Grandiouse also had an oaked Sauvignon Blanc!!! (Te Koko Cloudy Bay 2012) Yummy, refreshing, creamy, deliciousness!
Leaving Grandiouse wine shop, cider in hand, it was time to eat and pop open some wine..or..twist off the caps; which is convenient if you are not carrying around a wine opener with you.
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| Sidewood basket pressed apple cider Adelaide Hills Australia |
The Grüner Veltliner is out of its' bottle and ready to be consumed.
All the bottles featured here were between 50-60rm
This Grüner had just the right amount of residual sugar (useful for counterbalancing spicy dishes) which went perfectly with the peppered fried calamari and the spicy fish.
This bottle was definitely my favorite of the night.
Nose in glass! I got strong aromas of minerals, crisp green apple, and lingering herbaceous notes. The palate gave off a silky medium body, medium + mouth watering acidity, and flavors of green apple, lime, and tart passion fruit. This bottle was so beautifully balanced, I was hoping the flow would never end.
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| Elfenhof Troken Gruner Veltliner Burgenland Austria |
This Pinot Gris from South Australia felt more like a Pinot Grigio in style.
The nose gave off faint hints of tart apples, and blossoms; while the palate of the wine ticked my tongue with its medium body, medium + zippy acidity, and flavors of lemon, lemon zest, and soursop fruit.
Two things came to mind while drinking this wine...perfect for hot weather...and the beach!
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| Sidewood Pinot Gris Adelaide Hills Australia |
The Blaufränkisch ended the dinner on a high note with its' dusty raspberry, and earthy nose.
The palate gave off a nice balance of a medium body, medium soft tannins, medium acidity, and red fruit driven flavors of sour cherry, and sour strawberry. For the finish I got slight hints of pipe tobacco.
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| Elfenhof Troken Blaufrankisch Burgenland Austria |
A happy wino indeed, it was time for my last stop of the day, or so I though....
After another night swim and some beach side stories the night still felt young.
So where is one to go dance and drink into the wee hours of the night?
Hours:
6PM-3AM
Pantai Tengah. (next to Sagar North Indian Restaurant)
Langkawi
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| Photo from |
7rm for a 1/2 pint of carlsberg beer on tap
Glow paint, lively bar tenders, and floor shaking music is to be expected at One Love Reggae Bar.
There are plenty of candle lit tables outside if you just want to relax, or take a break from all that dancing.
Cheers Langkawi, I'll see you soon!
A bottle is coming back with me to Penang =)
For domestic flights you are allowed to bring back 1liter of alcohol (carry on or check in)
For international flights you muct buy a special duty free bag (from duty free shops or the airport 4rm) to store your alcohol in.
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| La Boheme Riesling Yarra Valley Australia |
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