WINE

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Longrain restaurateur and sommelier Sam Christie has carefully put together a wine list that best complements executive chef Martin Boetz’s modern Asian food.

The strong flavours of chilli and spicy pastes in Thai food can wreak havoc with some wines but over the years Longrain’s sommelier Sam Christie has carefully constructed a wine list to complement Martin’s food. Thus, the largely white-dominated list reflects Sam’s belief that unwooded white varietals, with good acid balance and predominate flavours, provide the best foil to spicy food.

Longrain Sydney’s award-winning wine list features Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and lightly wooded, spicy reds such as Pinot Noir, Grenache and Shiraz. The Melbourne wine list features a distinctly Victorian flavour with more of a European twist to it and was jointly created by The Prince’s Chris Crawford and Longrain’s Sam Christie - both award-winning sommeliers. Importantly, both wine lists perfectly balance the menu’s combination of hot, sour, salty and sweet flavours, which can often be tricky to match with wine. Your Longrain waiter will advise you on the best combination of dishes in order to get the ideal balance of hot, sour, salty and sweet flavours during your meal.

Similarly, don’t be afraid to also ask your waiter to suggest the perfect wine match for your specific order.

Sam Christie | RESTAURATEUR & SOMMELIER

“There are no set rules or traditions for matching wine with Thai food. Experiment and see what works for you. As a rule of thumb, it is best to drink unwooded or lightly wooded whites or reds. Finally, if wine doesn’t do it for you, stick with beer like they do in Thailand!”

Sam Christie was born and raised in Sydney. He began his hospitality career as a barman at Sydney’s iconic Bayswater Brasserie, in Kings Cross, while still in his teens.

After completing school, Sam worked bar gigs in various establishments before travelling to work extensively overseas. It was during his travels, at Terence Conran’s Quaglino’s in London, that he gained experience in the setting up and running of bars.

Sam returned to Sydney to work at Bilson’s as assistant sommelier. He then moved on to become sommelier at Tetsuya Wakuda’s internationally acclaimed restaurant, Tetsuya’s. It was here, at the original restaurant in Sydney’s Rozelle, that Sam gained invaluable experience matching wine to Asian flavours - working under the guidance of Jon Osbeiston from The Ultimo Wine Centre.

After Tetsuya’s, Sam returned to Kings Cross to become head sommelier at James Ingram’s The International. In 1999 Sam joined forces with Martin Boetz to open Longrain Restaurant & Bar in Sydney’s Surry Hills and together they opened Longrain Melbourne in 2005.

At Longrain, Sam enjoys combining his roles as restaurateur, sommelier and maitre d’ as well as indulging his passion for music. Sam hasco-produced three Longrain Music CDs that mix the chilled sounds of both local and imported music.