10.25.07
Posted in Cave, Cellar at 9:05 pm by admin
TRIO opened in May of 2006 and included: a reincarnation of Beijing’s oldest non-hotel bar, Frank’s Place, at ground level; a seventy-seat New York grill and piano bar, Park Grill, up top; and the high-end wine-centric The Cellar in, no surprise, the basement.
Frank’s Place is doing fine, with improvements to the deck helping, but The Park Grill and The Cellar have struggled. TRIO management reports the latter has been rented to a Korean company that operates eight wine bars in Seoul under the name Le Cave.
The Cellar was unique to Beijing, with pint-sized suits of armor and wrought-iron doors up front, an arched roof, stucco and brickwork inside, and, for members of Club 88, on-site storage space for 32 bottles. ASC Fine Wines was the sole TRIO wine supplier.The idea behind Club 88: with an 8888 kuai initial investment and 3888 kuai annual fee, members would receive free wine dinners and cooking classes, discounts on wine, and the on-site storage space (lock, key and brass name plate included). The market for this turned out to be smaller than expected and, in this drinker’s humble opinion, a menu where the cheapest bottle was 600 kuai prevented walk-in traffic (dozens of cheaper wines were later added to the menu).
By renting The Cellar to another company, TRIO management can focus on its bread and butter - Frank’s Place - while the new partners provide added marketing and sales power. This might end up being one of those “win-win” situations.
“The result is not that different from the original concept,” says one TRIO investor. “We’ve just teamed up with strategic partners.”
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10.18.07
Posted in Dynasty, Fengshou, Grace, Great Wall, Huadong at 12:27 pm by admin
I popped into the basement supermarket of the Lufthansa Center in Beijing and found a bonanza of booze. In addition to solid imported wine, vodka, gin, sake and whisky selections, the latter including the rarely found (in Beijing) Woodford Reserve Bourbon (561 kuai), it also offered a decent selection of Chinese wines.
Alongside the Great Wall, Dynasty and Fengshou, which included plenty of vintages, at least according to the bottle labels, in the 1990s, there was the fairly hard-to-find Huadong, although no recent vintages. The Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon were both 2000, the Riesling was 2002. A range of Grace Vineyard wines are also available, from the entry-level offerings to the Chairman’s Reserve.
I picked up the Huadong Riesling 2002 (76 kuai) and a Grace Premium Red 2001 for my next blind tasting.
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10.13.07
Posted in Catai, Face, Grace, Media - foreign, Sequoia Cafe, Tastings at 5:59 pm by admin
I spotted yet another place selling Grace wines in Beijing - upscale Face has the entry-level Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon for 220 per bottle (about four times retail) and the Tasya’s Reserve (I think it was the Cabernet Sauvignon) for 350 kuai. Face also has Catai Chardonnay at 220 per bottle.
Praise from England as the most recent Financial Times column by Jancis Robinson lists Grace under “Fine wines from unexpected sources”:
Grace, Chairman’s Reserve Merlot/Cabernet 2004.
The finest wine so far made in the country that is already the world’s sixth most important grower of grapevines even though eastern China tends to be a bit too damp and western China a bit too cold for viticulture. This one comes from the middle, south of Beijing.
Finally, a while back Sequoia Café held a tasting of five Grace wines. Here are some comments from 25 fellow imbibers, who range from those in the wine industry to those who enjoy wine as a hobby. I’ve included my own takes.
Chardonnay Premier 2003: “A good basic white with a little bit of fruit”; “I like it, it’s nice”; “That’s a decent Chardonnay”; “It’s got a bit of tartness”; “Tart and short”; “Too old - when it’s too old, you begin to feel too much oak”; “It’s drinkable”; “It’s like a cheap Californian wine, a bit fruity and light, and I like that.” My take: I heard the second bottle was better, but found this one too tart and prefer the entry-level Chardonnay from 2005 and 2006.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2005: “Rename it an exit [rather than an entry-level] wine. I found it a bit insipid”; “It’s a lot better than what else you can get from China for 60 kuai”; “This is the best one tonight.” My take: With some cherry on the nose, this is a light-bodied drinkable wine that offers good value for the price - one of my two favorites on the night.
Cabernet Merlot (I didn’t catch the year; I’ll post it later): “An interesting one - the Cabernet was there but I couldn’t find any Merlot”; “The fragrance is okay, the nose fuller than the Cabernet Sauvignon, but it’s a little bitter in the mouth”. My take: The nose was fruitier than the Cabernet Sauvignon, though the body had less fruit than I expected. This one grew on me and I’ll be giving it another try.
Merlot: (again, I will post the year soon): “Some crispness, but they could’ve done more to get the acid down”; “this one is bad”; “no”. My take: The body was rough and unstructured, making it the least pleasant wine of the night.
Deep Blue: “A bit heftier and bigger [than the others] but it seemed pretty young”; “[A shrug of the shoulders]”; “This one is interesting, there’s a lot going on there”. My take: A fruit-driven nose and body that seems like ilike it needs a few years to mature, it’s bigger on the nose than in the mouth. At RMB 288, it’s not cheap.
I’m a fan of Grace, but I think this tasting would have been better with a more recent Chardonnay and by replacing the Merlot with the Cabernet Franc, one of the winery’s better products.
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10.10.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:13 pm by admin
A heads up for those in Beijing and looking for some wine education.
Fongyee Walker and Edward Ragg will hold their second seminar on varietals tonight at the Park Plaza Grand Salon — tasting starts at 7 PM, followed by buffet dinner. These seminars are in conjunction with Oxford & Cambridge Club Beijing.
Price: 250RMB. Ticket price includes all wines, detailed English/Chinese tasting sheets and other info as well as dinner in Park Plaza’s Bloo Dining.
Those interested in attending should RSVP to fongyee@cantab.net
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10.09.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:04 pm by admin
Just a heads up to readers to expect some changes to this blog in the next month or so. Rather than having one writer (that would be me), grapewallofchina will soon have ten people in the wine industry - whether as makers, distributors, educators, writers or consumers - as contributors. This will give a more comprehensive view of what is going on here in the Middle Kingdom, and, to say the least, a lot is going on.
For those living in Beijing, I’m also working on creating some special wine packages. Say, for example, you want to try some Chinese wines and don’t know where to start. I’ll aim to put together a half-dozen or dozen bottles that you can have delivered to your home - and hopefully with a decent discount.
I am also hoping to put out a regular newsletter on wine in China and am toying, for the long run, with the idea of including bilingual posts (Mandarin / English) and chat rooms.
That’s a lot of stuff, but it’ll be a step-by-step process, starting with having more voices here and with trying to get wines at good prices into the hands of wine lovers out there.
Stay tuned for more on these projects in the next few weeks.
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10.08.07
Posted in Bolongbao, Le Champs D'or, Tastings at 11:24 pm by admin
Last Friday’s wine tasting at Sequoia Cafe here in Beijing was a bring-your-own-bottle affair. In addition to assorted bottles from France, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, there were two from China. Here are some notes:
Le Champs D’or: Le Vin Desert de Gobi, 2003
No varietal indicated, but it smelled like a typical Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a drinkable wine, though the body is a little bitter. “They tried to extract too much,” said winemaker Alain Leroux. “It was macerated for too long.” It was fairly light with some nice cherry and red plum. “It’s definitely drinkable, there are no major problems with it,” said one imbiber.
Chateau Bolongbao 2005
This Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot blend had a somewhat woody and syrupy medicinal nose. Some nice, tight fruit in this wine though the woodiness comes through on the tongue. “It’s got a heaviness, it would go with a big piece of meat,” said Paul A, adding “Hmmm, they put this one in oak, didn’t they?”Both wines weigh in at 12.5 percent.
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