Bhutan: Discovering Wine at the Rooftop of the World
I recently had the chance to travel through Bhutan, the tiny Himalayan kingdom where Gross National Happiness takes priority over GDP. Known for its monasteries, dramatic landscapes, and mindful approach to life, Bhutan is not the kind of place you’d expect to stumble across a winery. Yet as I wandered through its high-altitude valleys, I found myself wondering: could this be a place to grow grapes and produce wine?
As it turns out, I wasn’t the first to ask that question. Enter the Bhutan Wine Company.
The Birth of Wine in Bhutan
The Bhutan Wine Company was founded by Mike Juergens and Ann Cross, two wine lovers whose story feels almost as improbable as planting vineyards at 2,000 meters above sea level. Ann’s fascination with Bhutan led the pair there in 2017 to run a marathon. During their visit, they had what they describe as an “epiphany”: that Bhutan, despite having no history of winegrowing, might be perfectly suited to viticulture.
Back home, Mike set to work. He researched and wrote a detailed white paper and ten-year business plan, a gift to the Kingdom of Bhutan. When the plan reached the right officials, the Bhutanese government didn’t take it on themselves. Instead, they invited Juergens and Cross to partner with them in building the country’s first vineyards.
In April 2019, the first vines went into the ground. Today, the Bhutan Wine Company has nine vineyards spread across different microclimates, and in 2023 they released their inaugural vintage. In fact, their first-ever bottles were auctioned at Bonhams this past April, a fitting debut for such a rare and ambitious project.
Tasting Wine in the Himalayas
For visitors, the Bhutan Wine Company has created several opportunities to taste their wines. Their winery is located near Thimphu, about 50 kilometres from Paro, where tours and tastings can be arranged. They also have a vineyard in Paro, making it easy to combine with a trip to Bhutan’s famous Tiger’s Nest Monastery. And in downtown Thimphu, you’ll find Bhutan’s one and only Wine Bar, offering curated flights of four or six wines.
On our way from Punakha to Paro, we decided to stop at the Wine Bar in Thimphu. To our surprise, the space felt modern and cosmopolitan, something you might just as easily stumble upon in New York, Sydney, or London.
We opted for a self-guided tasting, ordering a glass of each of the available wines: Traminette, Sauvignon Blanc, a white blend, and a Syrah-based rosé. Considering this was only the winery’s second vintage, the wines showed promise. They were clean, well-made, and expressive of their mountain origins.
Exclusivity Comes at a Price
The one caveat? The price point. These wines sit firmly in the super-premium category, priced well above what you might expect for such a young project. Of course, pioneering viticulture in a remote Himalayan kingdom doesn’t come cheap. The infrastructure, logistics, and sheer audacity of the venture all contribute to the cost.
So while the wines themselves may not yet reach the level of greatness implied by their pricing, they do carry something else: exclusivity. With only small volumes produced, these bottles are rare, collectable, and deeply tied to the unique story of Bhutan’s first foray into winemaking.
Final Thoughts
If you find yourself in Bhutan, a stop at the Bhutan Wine Company is a must—not necessarily for the quality-to-price ratio, but for the experience of tasting wine at the “rooftop of the world.” This is history in the making: a country with no winemaking past boldly planting vines and carving out a future in one of the world’s most unlikely terroirs.
The wines may still be finding their footing, but the vision is extraordinary. And in Bhutan, where happiness is valued above all else, perhaps the real joy lies not in perfection but in the adventure of tasting the beginning of a story still being written.