The Lange Leidsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam is long because of the number of letters in the name. It’s also something of a United Nations of restaurants: Argentinian, Brazilian, Greek, Italian. So when we felt like Thai this lunchtime, it was off to the Royal Thai on Lange Leidsedwarsstraat. Niel Groenewald (below) beat us to it as his juicy Bellingham Pinotage with a dash of Petit Verdot 2009 was waiting for us at €29 a bottle.

This is a wine to re-educate PaPs (prejudiced against Pinotage) like Lettie Teague and Jamie Goodie. More importantly, the spicy red and black cherry flavours complement the robust chili-based spices. WOSA should think seriously about focusing on Thai food as a vehicle for marketing robust SA reds. And costs can be cut by assigning staff for training at SA branches of Simply Asia rather than the foreign flesh pots that are now beyond budget. Although some kind of accommodation will have to be reached to make up for the generous tax-free per diems.