12.28.07
Posted in Jim Boyce, Palette at 1:36 am by admin
- By Jim Boyce
Good holiday fun last weekend in Beijing as Palette Vino organized a five-hour tasting of more than 100 of its wines… for a mere RMB100 (USD13). Add last month’s Taste of the Nations with 150 wines from Torres China (RMB188 / USD25) and the recent Hilton Food & Wine Experience with over 1,000 wines (RMB230 / USD31), and it’s fair to say the wine scene is especially consumer friendly of late. I’d call these events early Christmas gifts from Santa but there’s no way even a dozen red-nosed reindeer could find us in this city’s mucky pollution.
I managed to catch the last two hours of the Palette tasting and got through about 25 red and dessert wines. A few of my favorites:
- Australia: West Cape Howe Bookends Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (RMB219) - lots of blackcurrant on this one. I like most of Palette’s Australian wines, including the Dalwhinnie Shiraz 2003 (RMB506) and Cabernet Sauvignon (RMB466) and the Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz 2005 (RMB390). The Heartland Shiraz 2005 (RMB157) ranks among the better values in Beijing this year.
- Spain: Palacio Quemado PQ Syrah 2005 (RMB169), which received a thumb up from fellow taster Badr B, and Palacio Quemado Reserva 2000 (RMB168) for its fragrant nose.
- Dessert wines: Peter Schandl Beerenauslese 2002 (RMB208), a lovely wine with apple, honey and apricot. Oliver S, whose friend makes this wine, says, “it’s extreme sweet with extreme sour, perfectly balanced.” I liked the fizzy Castello del Poggio Moscato d’Asti 2006 (RMB142).
The event drew a light turnout partly due to people being on holidays and partly due to Palette starting promotion FIVE DAYS BEFORE THE EVENT. Seriously, Palette has one of the best portfolios in Beijing but they need to do something on the marketing side.
By the way, we also sampled some Gouda cheese made in Shanxi province by Yellow Valley Farmhouse. Palette’s John Gai says the cheese is available at both his Shunyi and Central Park outlets, with prices starting at RMB80.
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12.27.07
Posted in Jim Boyce at 5:13 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
Like a mysterious fog slowly drifting in from the Grand Banks… like a heavy morning haze that like an unwanted guest forgets to leave for three days… like baby mice playing in cotton balls… I’m trying to find a way to describe Beijing’s record-breaking air pollution for this year, which hit 421 parts per million today. Perhaps a fellow patron describes the scene best: “It’s like watching a [figurative] skull and crossbones cross the sky.”
Those engaged in wine tasting tonight might want to skip taking notes, unless they prefer ones that read, “hints of coal, notes of car exhaust, and a faint whiff of asbestos.”
The past three days are by far 2007’s worst stretch, as measured by China’s government, which typically ranks Beijing last of the 84 cities it monitors. Check these before and after photos - the latter is for yesterday, 140 parts per million better than today. (Not surprisingly, China is far more liberal in defining pollution levels than the United States, Europe and Hong Kong.)
No wonder my Christmas stocking hung empty this year. There is no way Santa Claus, even if led by a dozen red-nosed reindeer, could have found my place.
Perhaps, it’s best to pick a wine tonight with some earthiness, minerality and petroleum on the nose….
Note: Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, we beat yesterday’s record - today it’s 500 parts per million, which is the maximum on the pollution chart.
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12.25.07
Posted in Jim Boyce at 2:57 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
According to the The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan has created the first “robot sommelier.” This might make for a stocking stuffer… if you like wine… and you’re rich… and your feet are big.
“The 40-centimeter-tall robot can determine the type of wine, and varieties of ingredient grapes, by holding a sensor built into its hand over the bottle,” says the article. While the robot can’t yet pull a cork, pour wine or throw out unruly patrons, it’s a start.
This one has no legs.
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12.20.07
Posted in Jim Boyce, Media - Chinese at 7:18 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
The China Daily reports that 2400-year-old wine has been discovered in Shaanxi province.
“Local archaeologists said they unearthed a sealed bronze pot containing 2 kg of red liquid during an excavation of an ancient tomb built in the Warring States Period (475 BC - 221 BC),” states the paper. “Wafts of the ancient vintage greeted the archaeologists after they opened the pot.”
How did they know it was 2,400 years old? The year was on the bottle! (Kidding)
The newspaper did not provide any tasting notes but did report that the wine has been sent to Beijing for verification. Four years ago, 2000-year-old rice wine was discovered in Xi’an. Fermented beverages appear to have been produced in China as long as 9000 years ago.
(Hat tip to Wine Business International, where I first spotted this story.)
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12.19.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:14 pm by admin
Here are a few wine tastings over the next few days to get you warmed up for Christmas:
December 22
Let the holiday spirit pour forth as Palette Wines holds a tasting of more than 100 wines for 100 kuai. The Christmas Wine Bazaar is Saturday, 2 PM to 7 PM, on the second floor of the Central Park banquet hall (apparently, the hall is in the center of Central Park). There is a 15 percent discount on purchases made at this event. Some constructive criticism - Palette, for the love of Santa Claus, please give us more warning when you hold an event of this size and value!
December 21
On Friday, Sequoia Café in Sanlitun will hold a tasting of Ridge Wines from California. Organizer Frank Siegel writes, “If you need a change from the ‘value for money’ wines found at the hypermarket, this is the event for you.” The event starts at 6:30 PM, costs 150 kuai and includes tasting samples, snacks, and entry into a draw for “The Oxford Companion to Wine.” RSVP with frankie.siegel@gmail.com.
December 20
Join Aromes and Vinotheca on Thursday for a tasting of eight wines - Viognier, Cotes du Rhone, Petit Mansberg and more. The event starts at 7 PM at the French Cultural Center and costs 50 kuai. There is a 15 percent discount on purchases made at this event. RSVP with aromes2006@gmail.com
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12.18.07
Posted in Alain Leroux at 1:13 pm by admin
- By Alain Leroux
One of the big challenges of making wine in Beijing is pruning the vines. Due to the warmer weather this year, we began pruning at Taillan one month later than usual, starting on November 7 and finishing on November 29.
We plant our vines in depressions. This allows for irrigation and it makes burial of the vines easier.
In order to bury the vines, we prune them to two branches. This allows us to bend the branches against the ground and cover them with 40 centimeters of soil.
(Before, our local workers would prune the vines like they were trees, creating a fan of branches. This made it too difficult to bend and bury the branches.)
Bending and burying is not a typical way to treat vines. The reason we do it is to protect them from Beijing’s cold winter. The vines freeze at -16 degrees Celsius and we sometimes have night temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius.
If the weather continues as last year, when it was -7 degrees Celsius at night, we won’t have to bury the vines. We also won’t have to prune before winter. Instead, we can do it in March, which is better for the vines, and for the grapes, too.
As we say in France : “You can prune early, or you can prune late, but best to prune in the middle.” Nothing is better than March pruning.
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12.16.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:48 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce and Campbell Thompson
The Greater China Sherry Wine Association held its inaugural Beijing event one month ago. A dozen Beijing-based wine writers, distributors and academics attended a wine dinner at Aria hosted by Cesar Saldana, president of Jerez-Xeres-Sherry DO, and John Isacs of Enjoy Gourmet, who is a certified Sherry educator and a writer for this blog.
Sherry, which like Champagne is tied to a geographical area, is little known in China. Saldana aims to change this. Projects under consideration include training Chinese wine professionals in Spain, tastings for local media, and pairing the promotion of Sherry and traditional Spanish culture, including food and Flamenco dancing.
“When you read the classic book on wine, Sherry has a chapter of its own,” said Saldana, and notes the biggest challenge to promoting the wine is its diversity - ”from salty to sweet to structured and powerful, variety is what defines Sherry.” He also noted Sherry’s unique history and production process.
Dinner attendees tried six Sherrys against five dishes and provided feedback not only on the food and drink, but also on the prospects for selling Sherry in China. This feedback included:
- Sherry shouldn’t be sold as a sub-set of grape wine, which represents a mere 2 percent of China’s alcohol market, but as an alternative to baijiu, maotai, Cognac, and other spirits. Several attendees described the aromas in some Sherrys as comparable to those found in Chinese spirits.
- Emphasis should be placed on Sherry’s long history and its difficult production method.
- Emphasis is also needed on the versatility of Sherry in terms of food pairing - after all, Spain is famous for its tapas.
- A strong focus is needed on packaging and branding for the China market, including launching rare old sherry in beautiful bottles with a knock-em-dead brand name. “Armada” popped into our heads - well, it’s a start…
As for the Sherry and food pairings, here is the lineup:
Lustau Puevto Soleva Reserva, with Campania-style seafood salad (octopus, mussels, prawans, and parsley lemon sauce)
Gonzalez Bayss Tio Pepe Fiue Muy Seco, with duck and pistachio sausage, bitter leaf salad with game jelly, and beetroot vinaigrette
Bodegas Arguzso San Leon Manzanilla Clasica, with steamed sea bass with lemongrass, and truffle congee with port reduction
Garvey Oloroso Ochavico Jevez Seco, with over-roasted pigeon with truffle and foie gras mous
Ream Capatas Andres Solera Reserva and Pedro Ximenez Romate, with chocolate truffle cake with Mandarin compote and vanilla ice cream
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12.13.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:46 pm by admin
- By Alain Leroux
We didn’t have a lot of grapes this year at Taillan. The main problem is that I left for a three-week holiday in 2005, the staff didn’t properly care for the vines, and some of them became diseased, lost too many leaves, and died during the winter. We had to replant some of the vineyard and it will take three years minimum to return to full capacity. We also changed some grape varieties we are growing. Production is currently limited to less than 10 hectares, less than half of our capacity.
A major challenge with growing grapes in Beijing is the warm and moist summers. This means we easily get mildew and other diseases. We have to spray and this decreases production.
This summer was hot, with temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius, and we had a lot of rain, including artificially induced rain. Again, this brought mildew and other diseases, and we had to spray.
We had to harvest between the middle and end of August for several reasons. The weather made our grapes more susceptible to disease, and brought the potential of the disease spreading. We also saw quickly decreasing acidity and we realized that the sugar was at a maximum.
The yield was small, but both red and white grapes were fine this year, a good size, except for the Pinot, which is very sensitive. In the end, we harvested about 30 hectoliters from less than 10 hectares. Normally, we would harvest around 1,200 hectoliters from 20 hectares.
To give you an idea of the fertility of the environment, corn was planted at the end of June and was already three meters high by mid-August, which is far quicker than usual. You can see Beijing’s environment is challenging - we might say very challenging - for growing grapes.
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12.12.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:04 pm by admin
The Beijing Wine Club will hold its second anniversary and wine awards on December 15 at Sequoia Café (Guanghua Road). The party gets started at 8 PM and includes a tasting of five wines. The cost is RMB150 per person. RSVP in order to ensure enough wine is available for everyone. To book a spot or for more info, email info@beijingwineclub.com
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12.11.07
Posted in Dan Siebers at 4:47 pm by admin
- By Dan Siebers
This is part 5 of 5. See also part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.In part 4, I talked about brands in China. In this, the last part of the series, I look at distribution and at some of the “land mines” for producers to consider in the China market.
Here is some information about geographic segments in China:
- Shanghai is the most developed wine market in China and the headquarters for most wine importers. The relatively well developed Western restaurant scene is due to a more outward-looking Shanghai subculture.
- Beijing is the second most developed wine market, and is 5-10 years behind Shanghai.
- South China has the highest per capita income in China, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen as centers. It is 10-20 years behind Shanghai.
- There are 20-30 secondary cities spread across the country. They focus on the most inexpensive imported wines, even in five-star international hotels. They are 15-20 years behind Shanghai.
- Tertiary cities are found throughout the rest of China and have virtually no wine market other than the occasional premium Chinese restaurant that can sell serious amounts of Grand Cru.
As you approach these markets, and consider the consumers, wholesalers and distributors in China, here is some friendly advice that will hopefully allow you to avoid costly mistakes.
- You are your own worst enemy. Don’t let your excitement cloud your judgment
- Be suspicious of any order. Be very suspicious of any first order over 500 cases.
- Demand full prepayment.
- Do not use letters of credit from Chinese banks.
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The importer is often honest, but shares the same weakness as the producers when it comes to China - overexcitement based on impressions rather than facts. This leads to a lack of due diligence and planning.
- Even with prepayment, the odds are that the company will not be able to sell the wine and will dump it on the market. It is thus best not to put your brand anywhere on the label.
- Contact the importer’s other suppliers to ask about payment. Only ask other questions to people who have visited the market themselves.
- Ask the importer about basic statistics on the market, for example the total size of the market in 2004 and 2005. Make sure they understand the wine market themselves.
- Do not simply sell to the first person who contacts you.
- Do not put undue pressure on your export manager to enter the China market. Intelligent, professional export managers sometimes enter situations they know are high risk only because of pressure from owners who want their wines in China, a desire that arises from poor coverage in the media and inadequate facts.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:49 pm by admin
I spotted a post by James Fallows (The Atlantic Monthly) about buying an 11.8 RMB bottle of “China Red Wine.” His comment, “How bad can it be?” set off my “please, not another person making fun of Chinese wine” alert.
So, I dashed off an abrupt email and asked if it would be possible for him to write about some of the better Chinese wines.
Well, sometimes our passions get the better of us.
He quickly replied: “I actually have had some good Grace wine (and some pretty-good Catai white wine), plus several others I liked that I’ve written about in other posts.” Those would be Xinjiang’s Suntime, which I have yet to try but will at my next blind tasting, and Gansu’s Mogao (see his reviews).
He also gives a shout to China Wine Tours, a company I recently covered on this blog.
Note: Knowing his love of bad headlines, I did my best with the title for this post.
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Posted in Yvonne Chiong at 2:27 am by admin
Yet another wine lover is joining our group of contributors at Grape Wall of China, a nonprofit site that provides info and opinions about the country’s growing wine scene.
Yvonne Chiong, wine director, WHM Group
Key focus: Sommelier insights
“Yvonne Chiong was chief sommelier at Jean Georges restaurant (Three on the Bund) in Shanghai, 2003 to 2007, and now works as a wine director for WHM Group. She has done interviews about wine for radio and for print publications in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and the United States, has been a wine judge in competitions in New York, and has earned numerous wine certificates and diplomas.”
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12.10.07
Posted in Media - Chinese at 4:03 pm by admin
“A shortage of professional tasters in the wine brewing industry will soon be eased as China has listed wine taster as a new profession in the country’s tenth batch of new professions,” reports state media.
The article states that more than 80 percent of China’s reported 15,600 wine companies have complained about the wine taster shortage. Approving wine tasting is expected to bring standardization to the profession.
Other newly approved professions are dairy product taster, kitchen manager and “nuts cook.”
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:04 am by admin
- By Jim Boyce
“Green is go, red is stop,” explains Frank Siegel as he hands each participant two poker chips at his most recent blind wine tasting - this one focused on bubbly - on Friday night at Sequoia Cafe in Beijing. The idea: taste all six wines, then use the green chip to vote for the one that puts a sparkle in your eye and the red chip to vote for the one that leaves you flat. After a lengthy session of sipping and savoring and considering, the tasters voted and Frank revealed the totals:
The “go” wine
Redbank (Australia) - 15 green, 1 red
The “stop” wine
Norton (Argentina) - 7 red, 0 green
In the middle
Fleischer (Germany) - 3 green, 7 red
Charles de Fere (France) - 1 green, 2 red
Mionetto (Italy) - 1 green, 2 red
Bouvet Ladubay (France) - 1 green, 2 red
My green chip went to Bouvet Ladubay: it had a toasty and slightly nutty nose, with a nice tingle, though I found it a tad bitter at the end. In second, I had a tie between Redbank (contrast between its toasty nose and fizzy, peachy and slightly rough mouth) and Charles de Fere (nice mouth feel, but a bit anemic). My red chip went to Norton, which came off as too sour and unripe. Close behind: the Mionetto, with a piney, almost freezer burn, smell. The Fleischer, much sweeter than the others, landed in the middle with its hint of baked apples. Note: I am not a professional wine taster, just a consumer, and these are my somewhat humble opinions.
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12.07.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:42 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
The best wine event of the year - AL
This is the best wine tasting event in Beijing. I put this event on my calendar a year ago. - EW
Definitely the best wine tasting I’ve been to in Beijing - AU
Praise abounded for this year’s Beijing visit by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux on November 30 at Sofitel Hotel. With nearly 100 wineries represented, the event saw a large turnout. What made this tasting so good?
- It featured one region (Bordeaux) and one year (2004), a rare chance in Beijing for in-depth comparative tasting.
- Many winemakers, owners and staff from the producers were present.
- Attendees received a handy booklet with info about the wines and wineries, including grape varieties used, aging time in barrels and total production as well as room for tasting notes.
- The booklet was in Chinese and English (and Japanese and Korean, for that matter).
- A handy numbering system made it easy to match each booth with its section in the book.
- Glassware abounded, thus no worries about sticking with the same one all afternoon, as is usual in Beijing. Switching from reds to Sauternes? Simply grab another Riedel glass.
Oh, the most important part: we were drinking excellent wine. Even the worst of this stuff is pretty good. Next year looks to be even better, as local winemaker Alain Leroux says that vintage is poised for greatness.
Other stops on this Bordeaux tour include Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Note: Thanks to p3wong for getting me into this event.
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12.06.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:57 pm by admin
- By Dan Siebers
This is part 4 of 5. See also part 1, part 2 and part 3.
In part 3, I discussed some facts about importers as well as kinds of importers, including independent foreign-owned, independent locally owned, independent Hong Kong-owned, Chinese wine companies, and “cowboys.” In part 4, I look at brands.
Here are some facts about brand distribution:
- The largest imported bottled brand in China in 2005 totaled 37,000 9L cases.
- The largest imported bottled brand in China distributed by an independent company, instead of the brand owner, in 2005 totaled 25,500 9L cases.
- Most key international brands (Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Hardys, Mondavi, Beringer, Torres, Mouton Cadet, Georges Duboeuf, Antinori) totaled under 10,000 9L cases in 2005.
Now, here are some “soft facts” on brand distribution. In particular, there are cases that might be labeled “the dangers of success.” Take as examples the experience of Canadian Ice Wine and of a Bordeaux brand in China.
In terms of Canadian Ice Wine, there were relatively large imports into China several years ago. Then, the market was severely damaged by fakes and imitations.
With a Bordeaux brand, a heavy marketing and distribution campaign made it relatively well-known across China. Then, the brand’s image and pricing structure was severely damaged by fakes, a situation exasperated, and possibly facilitated, by a distribution network based on wholesalers.
The advantage of wholesalers is that they provide instant access to their market geography and/or segments, prepayment terms, and single deliveries to the wholesaler’s warehouse. Their disadvantage is a lack of control of pricing and marketing, lack of proper storage and inventory control, and frequent treatment of the product as a commodity.
It is extremely difficult to stop supplying wholesalers as they will often use parallel or produce imitation products. In the case of the Bordeaux brand, a distribution network based on wholesalers allowed counterfeit products to instantly enter the entire distribution network. Some people theorize that it is the wholesalers themselves that develop and produce the fakes in order to save margin.
On Tuesday, part 5 of the series, covering distribution and “landmines” to avoid.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:51 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
Thanks to the persistence of Adam Steinberg at ASC Fine Wines, I attended the media tasting with Australian wine guru Jeremy Oliver at Hilton’s recent two-day Food & Wine Experience in Beijing. Sponsored by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, with wines supplied by ASC, the seminar outlined a new approach to how Australia explains its wine. This is a handy alternative for those who have neither the memory nor inclination to grasp the nuances of regional wines and varietals.
Oliver explained the four “personalities” of Australian wine:
Brand champions: labels that have “been extremely successful for Australia around the world”, whether in the United States, Europe or elsewhere, he says. They are simple and provide consistent flavor at an affordable price. We tried Wolf Blass President’s Selection Chardonnay 2004 and Penfolds Bin 8 Cabernet Shiraz 2004 as examples. Yellow Tail also fits into this category.
Generation next: this represents the “change, evolution and energy” of Australia’s wine industry, and includes unique grape blends. We tried Torbeck The Steading 2004 and Brown Brothers Cienna 2006. Glaetzer also fits into this category.
Regional heroes: labels such as Coonawara Cabernet, which are pricier and of higher quality than brand champions. “The trend has been to drink it ourselves,” says Oliver. “Now it’s time to share it with the rest of the world.” As examples, we tried Petaluma Riesling 2006 and Saltram Mamre Brooke Cabernet Sauvignon 2004.
Landmarks: these rank among the “elite and iconic” wines. “We understand that the best Australian wines sit very comfortably with the best wines in the world,” says Oliver. We tried Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2004 (beautiful stuff!) and Penfolds Magil Estate Shiraz 2004.
This explanation of Australian wines seems particularly useful in China, where consumers typically associate wine in terms of countries (especially France) rather than regions (with few exceptions, such as Bordeaux). Even better, the seminar was just before lunch, a perfect time to test our tastebuds.
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