Tropical terroir: inside Bali’s budding wine scene
An uptick in local winemakers, quirky new wine bars and increasingly curious consumers are reshaping Bali’s once-nascent wine sector. Amelie Maurice-Jones reports.
When sommelier Minyoung Ryu was first offered Balinese wine, she’ll admit, “I was a sceptic”. The South Korean native had spent a decade sampling some of the very best bottles as part of her career – pinballing through countries including Hong Kong, Australia and the UK. So when she arrived in Indonesia in 2023 to take on the head sommelier role at luxury resort Desa Potato Head, you can’t blame her for “half expecting to be politely unimpressed”.
After all, Bali isn’t exactly famed for its wine culture. Smoothie bowls in Seminyak? Sure. Breaking open a bottle of Bintang by the beach? Why not. But when it comes to wine, tough taxes push up the price of foreign bottles, thwarting consumption. And when it comes to production, the island’s humid, tropical conditions make it a surprising pick of place to grow grapes.
Nevertheless, beyond the rice paddies, a wine culture is beginning to bloom in Bali. Last year, a spate of bars and restaurants launched across the island, with wine at the heart of their offering. Among these were Berawa’s Kitchen & Wine, Ubud’s Santè, headed up by Bali’s Best Sommelier 2024, and high-end Uluwatu eateries Mantra and Hidden Gem Restaurant & Wine Lounge. The number of wineries has dramatically increased too: in 2010, there were 10 producers on the island. Today, there are 16.
“Openness is growing,” Ryu previously told the drinks business, with guests increasingly curious about what’s in the glass. And what about local wine? She looks back on taking that first fateful sip: “I thought, ‘this is genuinely better than I expected.’”
Today, Ryu serves Balinese wine at half of Desa Potato Head’s eight venues. Potato Head itself, based on Petitenget Beach, attracts younger couples with kids in tow, whereas the 225-room hotel draws in an older crowd. But when sampling local pours, Ryu notes a pattern: “Guests go through the same journey I did. A little sceptical, then surprised, then converted.”
Making the case for local wine
Characterised by a distinct tropical character, floral notes and minerality, Balinese wines are produced using vines mostly planted in the Buleleng region in the north-west of the island. Here, high elevation and cooling ocean winds pacify intense heat, while rich, volcanic soils provide nutrients for the grapes.
Pioneer Ida Bagus Rai Budarasa was first to tap into Bali’s viticultural potential when he founded Bali’s original winery, Hatten Wines, in 1994. Using both international and local grape varieties (including Propolinggo Biru and d Alphonse-Lavallée), the winery harvests three times a year to create rosés, whites, reds, and sparkling wines from 50 hectares of vines. It was crowned ‘Winery of the Year’ at the 2017 Asian Wine Review, and offers tastings at its cellar in Sanur.
Other notable producers include Isola Wines, which specialises in small-batch, organic products, and Plaga Winery, which fuses modern tech with sustainable practice.
Then, there is Sababy winery, founded in 2010 by Evy Gozali and her mother, Mulyati, with the mission of empowering local farmers, alongside Bordeaux winemaker Guillaume Quéron. Since its inception, the winery has racked up 30 international awards, and today it partners with Belle Wine Bar in Ubud, which serves its White Reserve side-by-side with New World and French bottles.
This is something owner Norh-man Morlaejo is “genuinely proud of”. But are people actually drinking the local wine? “When we first opened it was safe choices only,” he admits. “Now someone will actually listen when you say, ‘try this, it’s from Indonesia’”. It also makes for a good story: “’I had an Indonesian wine in Ubud’ is a much better thing to say at a dinner party back home than another Malbec.”
Added to this, Sababy’s wine pairs well with local cuisine: “Balinese food is bold and spicy and it will bully a delicate wine immediately. High-acid whites work beautifully: a dry Riesling, a Sauvignon Blanc, something with enough energy to stand up to the chilli and coconut,” says Moralejo. “Sababay has done real work on this — pairing their Black Velvet with ayam pepes, their rosé with sate lilit. Indonesian food deserves its own pairing language and they’re building it.”
The increasing curiosity of drinkers doesn’t just benefit local wines, but foreign bottles too. It’s why Australian and New Zealand wines are also having a moment at the bar on Monkey Forest Road. “This makes sense given where we are in the world,” the Parisian, who previously worked in fashion, adds. “The styles are fruit forward, easy to drink the heat”. Prosecco is also popular: “The price point works for people and it’s cheerful for people on vacation.”
A market in flux
Pierre-Alexandre Barth, director of premium wine boutique, Finesip, is also seeing strong demand for expressive wines suited to Bali’s climate. The shop launched in Umalas, between tourist hotspots Seminyak and Canggu, last year. “New World white wines are clearly leading the market, particularly from regions like Australia and New Zealand, thanks to their aromatic profile, consistency, and easy approachability,” he says. “Varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay dominate, especially in venues with high turnover and international clientele.” Champagne also performs well, especially at the beach clubs, and lighter reds such as Pinot Noir or soft Bordeaux blends are preferred over heavier picks.
And at fine dining restaurant Apéritif, skin-contact wines are gaining ground, while New World tail closely behind the popularity of Burgundy and Bordeaux. This makes sense given the restaurant’s European roots, with chef Nic Vanderbeeken bringing more than 20 years of experience to Ubud’s lush valleys. The restaurant boasts an expansive wine list which scored a spot in the 2026 Star Wine List of Southeast Asia finals.
“The wine scene is extremely diverse, which quite a few people find surprising,” the restaurant’s manager Tomas Kubart tells the drinks business. “The style of wine you can come across different areas of the island is very versatile, and the demand keeps getting stronger.”
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This is a sentiment compounded by Barth: “A decade ago, Bali was largely a price-sensitive market where wine played a secondary role to spirits and cocktails,” he goes on. “The selection was limited, often driven by availability rather than intention, and the level of wine education across venues was relatively low.”
What’s changed is the emergence of a far more experience-driven hospitality scene. While the island’s been a vacation mecca for decades, it smashed records in 2025 with 6.95 million international arrivals (Horwarth HTL). “With the rise of world-class beach clubs, refined dining concepts, and luxury resorts, wine has become part of the identity of a venue rather than just an item on the list,” Barth continues. “The market has shifted from a purely transactional approach to a more experience-led and quality-focused consumption.”
But Bali’s melting pot of tourists means that, of course, people want different things. Bars like Belle Ubud must appease both the luxury-seeking crowd and laid-back holiday-goer. ”Some guests want to sit with the list, do a wine flight, talk through the pairings. Others want a cold glass on a warm evening without overthinking it,” Moralejo describes. After all, “wine shouldn’t have a dress code”.
It’s brutal out there: tax troubles
But, no matter who’s drinking it, serving wine in Bali comes at a high cost. “The important taxes are brutal, the logistics are exhausting and wine just isn’t part of the local struggle,” Moralejo gets candid. He opened Belle in an abandoned retail shop in 2023 with the simple mission of bringing great cheese and wine to Bali. “It’s a real struggle”.
While it’s true that Bali is predominately Hindu, around 87% of Indonesia’s population are Muslim, with strict laws regarding alcohol imports enforced. Duties and taxes on wine imports often exceed 150% of the product’s value, with key charges including a 90% import duty (MFN) on most wine categories, plus a 150% excise tax for certain alcohol classes as well as 11% VAT.
“This effectively doubles the ex-cellar price before a wine even reaches the guest,” remarks Ryu. The regulations “shape everything,” she adds, from how she builds a wine list, to how she frames value to the customer. Added to this is the cultural challenge: “Wine isn’t native to Indonesia, and education is a real part of my job,” she continues. “It’s slow work, but it’s worth it.”
Tackling challenges
This is why Barth believes that significant cultural and logistical change needs to happen for Bali’s wine market to mature. “Education is a key pillar, investing in staff training, sommeliers, and consumer awareness will raise the overall standard,” he maintains. “At the same time, more stability in the regulatory environment would allow for better long-term planning and pricing strategies.
“Collaboration between distributors, venues, and producers is also essential to build a more cohesive offering. When all these elements align, the market naturally becomes more sophisticated and sustainable.”
On the plus side, Balinese winemakers benefit from high import taxes, as their drinks are much cheaper to serve that foreign wine. Nevertheless, local producers face plenty of their own hurdles. “There is undeniable progress being made,” Barth points out. However, producing wine in a tropical climate means vine health, harvest cycles and overall balance become challenges that are far tricker to navigate than in traditional regions.
“The wines have improved in terms of drinkability, but they are not yet competing on the same level as established international benchmarks,” he spells out. While there’s potential for winemakers to craft a distinct identity, it won’t happen overnight: “It will take time, technical development and a clear vision.” Producers who invest in vineyard management, experimentation with grape varieties and technical expertise, will be the ones who reap benefits.
“If Balinese winemakers can carve out a niche, whether through style, storytelling, or sustainability, they can find their place within the broader ecosystem,” he clarifies.
If Barth’s a realist, Ryu’s an optimist: “The timing might be better than people realise,” she argues, with tourism now outpacing pre-pandemic levels. “As more people experience Bali, local wines naturally become part of that story”. And while recognition builds slowly, “it builds”. She shares a personal anecdote: “I bring bottles as gifts when I travel or return to Korea, I talk about them with friends in wine and hospitality. The quality is there.”
What’s next for Bali’s wine scene?
If the future is promising for Balinese wine, what about the establishments serving it? According to Barth, the destination is en route to becoming one of the most dynamic wine markets in Southeast Asia, fuelled by continued investment in high-end hospitality. “Premiumisation will continue,” he forecasts, “but it will be more nuanced, less about price and more about experience and differentiation,” with “storytelling and curation” just as important as the product itself.
Bali’s wine scene is still in its infancy. This comes with challenges (the biggest of which is “doing things that stand out from the crowd”, according to Kubart), but also opportunities: “There’s room to shape it, not just respond to it”, according to Barth. As the wine culture gets on its feet, Ryu also sees real scope for innovation: “Rather than following what others import, the real opportunity is for each venue to build its own perspective: your client, your values, your concept,” she says.
But, for Ryu, it’s not just about selling bottles. “Success isn’t about volume or prestige labels,” she says. “It’s a guest picking up a list and feeling like wine is approachable, like a door to somewhere unexpected.
“If that happens here, in Bali, we’ve done something worth doing.”
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