Vietnam gets set to open new international airport

Anyone flying into Ho Chi Minh City from December 1 might find themselves landing at a brand new airport.

Vietnamese authorities are preparing to open Long Thanh International Airport on December 1. 

This will set the stage for a gradual transfer of most international flights from Ho Chi Minh City’s overloaded Tan Son Nhat Airport, news hub Travel Mole reports.

The US$12.8 billion project is the largest and most expensive airport development in Vietnam’s history.

Located some 40km east of Ho Chi Minh City CBD in Dong Nai Province, Long Thanh is expected to become the country’s primary international gateway. 

State-owned Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), which is developing the airport, aims to establish Long Thanh as a regional transit hub capable of attracting long-haul connecting traffic that currently flows through airports such as Singapore Changi, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Kuala Lumpur International.

The airport will accommodate 25 million passengers annually during its first phase, with future expansions eventually increasing capacity to 100 million passengers per year. 

The first phase is primarily intended to relieve congestion at Tan Son Nhat Airport, which has operated beyond its designed capacity for years.

ACV has proposed a three-stage transition plan that would move more than 90% of Ho Chi Minh City’s international passenger traffic to Long Thanh in 2027.

From December, the airport will handle all long-haul international services, cargo operations, newly launched international routes and additional frequencies. 

Domestic operations will continue primarily from Tan Son Nhat. 

Bold chardonnay project an instant success

Winemaker Alex Beckett spent seven successful years at Briar Ridge in the Hunter Valley before his recent switch to Marnong Estate in Victoria.

But he also has a little side project with Jan Taborsky, a former journalist from the Czech Republic with a love of wine, devoted to just one grape variety: chardonnay.

Meet Origines Wines, which has debuted with an exceptional wine from a most unlikely source, the New England district in northern New South Wales, a minor wine producing region at best.

The result, however, is hugely impressive: the Origines 2022 New England Chardonnay ($55). 

Think quality wine made in the style of the Macon region of Burgundy; cool-climate chardonnay with real personality. This is concentrated and elegant with terrific palate drive and has what the French call a certain je ne sais quoi. It's super stylish.   

Origines is described as a "micro-negociant project" that aims to explore the various terroirs of cool-climate areas of New South Wales, and produce chardonnays - and only chardonnays - that express their origins.

The project began two years ago, with a focus on vineyards that use sustainable farming practices.

The pair says its winemaking philosophy is "to capture every aspect of the grape in each glass".

That involves hand picking fruit from low yielding sites (at almost 1000 metres altitude in the case of the first wine), carefully selecting the best grapes, then whole bunch press and fermentation with natural fruit solids and ambient yeasts in, most unusually, Austrian oak casks.

Long maturations on yeast lees follows without any additions and, finally, natural clarification and bottling without any finings or filtration.

A 2023 vintage New England wine is currently in barrel, along with a 2023 Orange chardonnay (from Orange, not made in the orange style). 

Head to https://origines.com.au/  but don't hang around. Quantities are small and word will soon get around. 

 

 

Coonawarra has its first distillery in three-quarters of a century

Family-owned Majella is one of the stars of the Coonawarra wine industry - and is also now a craft distiller.

Majella has just released a gin and an Eau de Vie - and a brandy made from grape spirit is in the works.

The whole project came about by chance.

Co-owner Brian "Prof" Lynn was asked by a retail store manager: "When is Majella going to make a gin? With the Majella name on it we could sell some".

With plenty of pressings left over after each vintage, it seemed like a good idea, except Prof thought "Why not distil it and make that old-fashioned product: brandy."

After looking at using a contract distiller, the Majella team decided to go it alone.

They purchased a still from Burns Welding and Fabrication in Griffith, NSW, and now own a 970-litre copper "pot still" (below).



It is the first commercial still in Coonawarra since one was removed from what is now Wynn's Coonawarra Estate Winery in the early 1950s. It was installed in the early 20s to make spirit for both brandies and fortified wines.

By law, brandy has to be aged for at least two years in oak barrels before it can be released as Australian Brandy.

"We've had some in barrel now for just over seven months and it's looking very good indeed," Prof says. "Hopefully in a couple of years it will be a great Australian craft brandy."

But the Majella team has the distilling bug.

"While we are waiting for the brandy to age gracefully we've used the spirit we've made to make two new products," says Prof.

"We've taken some of the brandy spirit that we've already distilled, mixed it with some botanicals, aged it for a while and then re-distilled it as gin.

"This has given us a smooth, traditional London Dry-style gin, perfect on it's own but a gin that mixes exceptionally well with tonic water or soda.

"The botanicals we have used are very traditional - juniper, coriander, fresh lemon peel (from our own orchard), and a little orris root and angelica root."

When someone asked "What's your gin like?" Prof replied that it was just a very simple gin, and that is what its called: A Simple Gin by Majella.

It is bottled in 500ml rectangular bottles and sells for $65 per bottle.

And then there is the Eau de Vie, French for "water of life", billed as "an absolutely marvellous cocktail base". This one is $55 a bottle.

You can buy both at www.majellawines.com.au