02.29.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 4:28 pm by admin
By Jim Boyce
As mentioned yesterday, Hong Kong has abolished its wines taxes in an effort to make the place even more important as a wine trading hub. China Briefing blog reports that the savings will be substantial:
As the duty on alcohol is paid on the wholesale cost of wine, Jeanette Paterson, general manager at Watson’s Wine Asia, Hong Kong’s largest wine supplier, said consumers would actually pay around 22 percent less in shops and bars.
Retailers in Hong Kong are already reacting, as the poster below shows (thanks to Campbell Thompson for passing it on). He received in in an e-mail with the title: “We Share Tax Reduction to All Wine Lovers”
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Posted in Peter Wright, Uncategorized at 1:51 pm by admin
- By Peter Wright
As a big wine drinker, it is pleasing to see an increasing number of Shanghai bars, restaurants, retailers and wholesalers hold wine tastings and wine promos or offer value-for-money wines by the glass. Winopete’s Shanghai picks for value are:
1. Sasha’s (corner of Hengshan and Dongping Roads, in the French Concession area) holds a wine buffet every Friday, when it’s an all-you-can drink deal from a selection of about a dozen wines from 5.30 p.m. - 9 p.m. for just RMB148. A lot of the wines are drinkable lower-end labels, with one or two nasty Nelly’s, but most weeks there are a few roses among the thorns to keep the pickier plonkheads happy (e.g. Pedroncelli 2002 Merlot, Jim Barry 2004 Shiraz and a great Chateau Monteils Sauterne for ’sticky’ fans).
2. Enoteca Wine Lounge (53-57 Anfu Road) and Enoteca 2 (58 Taicang Road, near Xintiandi) stock about 70 wines and champagnes. Many of the wines are imported directly from France, Argentina and Chile. Bottles of vino start from RMB83 / bottle, with better ones from around RMB150. The food is also very decent, with sandwiches, salads, tapas and cheese platters all featured on the menu. Enoteca opened just less than a year ago and their success has led them to open a new store near Xintiandi (official opening of Enoteca 2 to be held on 28th February). A wine buff’s paradise! Check their website at http://www.enoteca.com.cn .
3. More than 30 wines are available by the glass at Otto Cafe (85 Fumin Rd). Highest-quality vacuum technology is used to keep the wine fresh for 2-3 weeks. Wines by the glass are available in different sized pours: 50 ml from RMB28, 100 ml from RMB48 and 150 ml from RMB68. For bottles, reds start from RMB258 (Jean Leon Tempranillo), with whites starting from RMB228 (Torres Vina Sol). For details, please see their website at www.otto-cafe.com. Go at lunchtime and you can enjoy a cheap, very acceptable meal at around RMB100.
4. American Steak and Eggs (99-3 Xikang Road, behind the Portman Ritz-Carlton Hotel) has a very decent Argentine wine, Signos Shiraz 2005, on special at a paltry RMB15 a glass or RMB65 a bottle! (Don’t be cheap, get a bottle!) The wine is fresh and there’s no fine print to bite you in the balls. They also have a drinkable Signos Chardonnay Chenin Blanc 2006 at the same price. For other wines by the bottle, they have another 10 reds and five whites (some French, Chilean, Australian and Italian), all priced at RMB135, which is still an excellent price for Shanghai. From the wine list, Winopete’s picks are the Peter Lehmann Weighbridge Chardonnay or Shiraz, or the Redbank ‘Long Paddock’ Chardonnay or Shiraz.
As to numbers 5 and 6, I’d tentatively pick Villa Venue near Hongqiao airport and Vino Villa in Jinqiao. I have not yet been to either of them, but have heard good reports so far. Villa Venue is a new establishment that doubles as an art gallery. As for Vino Villa, on the Pudong side of Shanghai, it has a very mixed clientele of both locals and expats, with many good value wines available, according to an oenologist friend who lives out that way. Will hike out there soon.
I wish I could produce a list of 10 good value wine drinking spots in Shanghai, but I can’t. Maybe you Beijingers have it better? Let me know!
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02.28.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 3:45 pm by admin
By Jim Boyce
Hong Kong has abolished its wine (and beer) taxes and this will likely impact distributors and consumers in the rest of China. An excerpt from a Bloomberg article:
Hong Kong’s government abolished taxes on wine and beer after posting a record surplus, boosting efforts to turn the city into a wine-trading hub.
The tariffs will be abolished immediately, costing the city government HK$560 million ($72 million) in annual tax revenue, Financial Secretary John Tsang said today in his budget speech.
Sales by Hong Kong’s “wine-trading and distribution businesses” may rise as much as HK$4 billion due to the change, he said. About HK$55 billion ($7 billion) is spent on table wine in Asia excluding Japan, he said, citing industry estimates…
Scrapping the tax on wine may help Hong Kong become the world’s third-biggest hub for wine auctions after London and New York, Tommy Cheung, a lawmaker and chairman of the Hong Kong Wine & Spirits Industry Coalition, said in a phone interview before Tsang’s speech. One-fifth to as much as a quarter of the $200 million to $400 million of wine sold at international auctions is bought by Hong Kong residents, said Boris de Vroomen, who leads a venture in the city between Diageo Plc and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA.
The key point: the Hong Kong Government wants the city to be even more of a major wine trading hub. Also according to Bloomberg, Acker Merrall & Condit and Bonhams plan to use Hong Kong for their first wine auctions in Asia.
A few quick notes about how lifting the duty will affect the China market:
- There is an added incentive for people to hand carry (especially with expensive wines as the savings per bottle will be high) or smuggle wine from Hong Kong into China.
- Those based in China who regularly visit Hong Kong, or who live in Shenzhen, will suddenly see more value for their wine money.
- More wine choice, including with more moderately priced wines, is likely to appear in Hong Kong and spill over into China.
- China-based importers selling Grand Cru Bordeaux and other such wines will face stiffer competition from their Hong Kong counterparts.
In terms of the latter, China Briefing blog cites ASC’s Don St. Pierre: “[He] commented this afternoon that ASC would be fast tracking the opening of an office in Hong Kong, and expected the territory’s wine drinking to boom, especially at the premium end of the market.” In addition, “He did express concerns over possible problems with the smuggling of wines from Hong Kong into the mainland, and told China Briefing he would be leading a consortium of mainland wine distributors to the Chinese government to lobby for a similar reduction in wine duties in the PRC.”
See the full article.
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Posted in Jim Boyce at 2:32 pm by admin
By Jim Boyce
Ethan Perk, deputy general manager of Jebsen Fine Wines, has been in China’s wine sector for six years. I asked him about the wine scene in different regions of China, reaching local consumers, trends in wine consumption, and more.
Jebsen Fine Wines’ Ethan Perk
How does the China wine market differ now as compared to when you arrived?
There is actually a business now. Seriously, for many years, just a few distributors were chasing the same limited pool of customers. But now the market has grown tremendously as the number of end consumers has skyrocketed. Imported wine is now everywhere in China.
What marketing strategies does Jebsen use to reach local consumers?
As opposed to the large spirit and beer brands which advertise on a macro market scale, wine is much more a grassroots marketed item. That means we work from account to account, and try to speak to each individual outlet’s needs.
The type of wine and price point requested by a local Chinese restaurant will be very different from an upscale bar or international restaurant. You have to use different bait to catch different fish.
Jebsen Fine Wines has offices in Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. What are the differences in the wine scenes in these five places?
We actually now have offices in seven cities, including Tianjin and Dalian, and all of these markets are incredibly different. On a per person average, south China actually has the highest consumption and knowledge of wine but the customers are also most picky.
North China is a much more traditional market where customers buy by brand more than they do in other regions of China. East China seems to be the most open and experimental of the three regions. But these are quick generalizations.
How does Jebsen see the rest of China’s cities, say Chengdu or Chongqing?
There is good wine business everywhere in China, the skill is in finding the end consumer. We have good local partners in three dozen Chinese cities besides Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. We work with them and draw on their local expertise to make things happen.
What changes can we expect to see in the Jebsen wine portfolio? For example, will the lower US dollar mean more American wines?
In 2007, we added 27 new wine brands, which is not a small number! This year we are looking to further develop these brands through our customers.
Regarding new wines, we are continuing to expand our portfolio with more Grand Cru class and small boutique and niche wines.
The industry faces challenges due to the appreciation of the Australian dollar and the Euro in combination with higher component costs, such as for energy and glass. This has forced prices up across the board. Freight and shipping costs continue to rise as well, which puts stress on costs. Wine suppliers will be forced to increase prices again this year.
Australia for years benefited from a surplus of juice, plus a weak currency. But those days are long over, as Aussie wines have suffered supply challenges from an intense drought and depressed yields.
The price conscious wine consumer could look to US-dollar based wines for 2008, as less expensive alternatives to European or Australian wines. California is doing very well as of late.
You were in Japan’s wine industry before moving to China to work for Montrose and then Jebsen. What brought you to China and what have you learned since you arrived?
I came to China as I believed the potential for wine was huge. It turned out to be a good guess.
This market is similar to Japan and the US in many ways, but different in others. China is an on-premise market with most wines consumed away from home, while the US and some other markets are based upon home consumption. China will move in that direction as more people entertain and dine at home. Just look around Beijing and you can see block after block of new apartments.
But at the end of the day, the consumer wants good value wine, most often from a recognized brand. This is a truism around the world.
When you want to relax and have some wine, where do you go in Beijing?
Where I go really depends on the moment and the group. There are too many good places to go - Aria, Cafe Igosso, Aperitivo, Face, and more. There are also many great places opening up that will continue to help grow the Beijing wine scene.
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02.27.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 3:56 pm by admin
By Jim Boyce
In December, I tagged along on a research trip by Ma Huiqin of China Agricultural University and visited Yunnan Red Wine Company This interview with wine maker Zhang Ning focuses on the hybrid grape French Wild and is the third in a series of posts about an area some call Shangri-La.
Checking out the grapes (J. Boyce)
Boyce: Tell us about the French Wild (France Ye) grapes you have been experimenting with and selling in small batches?Zhang (translated by Ma Huiqin): Growing French Wild is like gambling. When the fruit is 90-percent ripe, we must decide whether to harvest or to wait. If we harvest, the grapes are only good enough for entry-level wine. If we wait, let’s say up to five days, we could get rain. If it rains even overnight, the berries start splitting because they easily absorb water and they start falling from the vines. So, our strategy is to harvest some grapes early and save a portion for later harvest. This latter portion either provides good quality grapes or is wiped out.
At this point, one possibility is that the vines are young and the roots shallow, so they take on too much water when it rains. Perhaps, over time the roots will go deeper and alleviate this problem. To me as a winemaker, it also seems like the berries on the younger vines have thinner skins and this leads to easier splitting. At this point, we are not quite sure and will continue to study the situation.
A second challenge with French Wild vines is marketing. Some consumers think it is similar to our Rose Honey wine, and this makes it harder to make the grape viable. We need to explain to consumers the uniqueness of French Wild, to explain the story behind this wine.
At this point, we don’t sell an entry-level or mid-level version of French Wild, because the small amount of these grapes we grow - around 200 to 300 tons of per year - does not make it economical. So, we only make a varietal wine with the best grapes.
By the way, the background of this grape is interesting. Vines come from at least two sources. The first is from Chinese abroad who brought back clones from Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Vietnam, in the 1950s. The vines were introduced from a Chinese refugee farm (Hua Qiao Nong Chang) which was established in the 1960s in Yunnan. We are not sure where the farm’s vines came from.
The second is from Ci Zhong Church in Yunnan’s Shangrila region. We assume these vines came from missionaries.
We have heard there are four different clones of French Wild, but we only have two types in the vineyard. Most of the information we have about these vines is anecdotal and the full story still needs to be told.
As the bottles attest, this is not a small winery. (J. Boyce)
Previous:
- Yunnan Red Wine Company CEO Wu Kegang
- Yunnan Red Wine Company GM Shan Shumin
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02.26.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 12:22 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
Three men, one hundred wines (Photos: GELIPU)
Beijing enjoyed yet another “100 wines for 100RMB” (USD14) event as GELIPU and Winelink teamed up to present Australian and South African wines last Saturday at Tim’s Texas Roadhouse.
Save for occasional rinsing water shortages and a few shaky pours that ended up on hands instead of in glasses, the staff did a decent job. Kudos to the organizers for placing A4-sized printouts in front of many bottles to indicate the producer, vintage, varietal and price, thus saving much squinting. Based on the lively chatter throughout the night, most attendees had an excellent time.
For the South African wines, the very drinkable Stonecross Merlot Pinotage at RMB 65 per bottle stands up to other competitors in that price range, such as Signos and Fortrant. The Stonecross Shiraz is also worth a try. Among the higher priced labels, the 2005 Klien Zalse Shiraz packed a wallop at 15 percent alcohol and offered nice dark fruits - this one isn’t cheap at RMB350.
With the Australian wines, I noticed people enjoying the The Little Wine Co Gewurztraminner 2006, with its ample grapefruit flavors (RMB235), and one patron said her favorite wine of the night was 2003 Bremerton Old Adam Shiraz (RMB1288).
The tasting included over a dozen liqueurs and ports from Castle Glen Vineyards. The Ginger White Port - according to the label, it is aged in American oak - is hot and intense but tasty (RMB239). The Dragon’s Breath liqueurs, all at 30 percent alcohol, were very in-your-face. Numerous people raved about the the chocolate and chili version - suffice to say, save this taste bud-vaporizing liquid until after finishing your wine.
Spicy liqueur is no match for chili-eating champ Gabriel Monroe.
Sampling southern hemisphere wines at Tim’s
GELIPU GM Danny Wu enjoys the evening.
Wait a minute - what’s that guy doing with beer!?
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02.25.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 11:47 am by admin
By Jim Boyce
In December, I tagged along on a research trip by Ma Huiqin, of China Agricultural University, and visited Yunnan Red Wine Company This interview with Shan Shumin, the company’s GM, is second in a series of posts about an area some call Shangri-La.
The land of hybrid grapes.
Boyce: What are the biggest challenges of growing grapes in this region?
Shan (translated by Ma Huiqin): At this stage, it’s the range of grapes, as we only grow two main types - Crystal and Rose Honey. We feel that we don’t have the option of growing “noble varieties”, like they do in North China with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and other grapes. We are like painters without enough colors.
A second challenge is that the harvest season overlaps the rainy season. Every five years we have excessive rain, which leads to disease and to little sugar in the grapes.
To help deal with these challenges, we work with universities to introduce more foreign grape varieties. We also collect local varieties, most of them hybrids, based on their disease-resistance and fruit quality. Within the next two to three years, we hope to have two main red grapes and two main white grapes.
We have done small tastings with wine experts with the grape Yun Zhong Wu, which translates to “dancing in the clouds.” The response has been good. Missionaries brought this grape to China in the late-nineteenth century.
We are also looking at the harvest period for our grapes. For red grapes, we normally begin picking from July 10 to 15, which is the start of the rainy season. It takes one month or so to harvest, the same length as the rainy season. For white grapes, we can begin picking from the end of June, at the very earliest, though we usually start in July. Again, this overlaps with the rainy season. This year was particularly tough since we had our heaviest rain in 37 years and not enough sun.
Instead of dealing with this situation by using chemicals or viticulture methods, we would like to find a grape that is naturally late harvest. Then, we could pick after the rainy season. Even if we could pick two weeks afterwards, we would get a better accumulation of sugar, better aroma and better quality grapes overall.
The red earth of Yunnan (J. Boyce)
Next: An interview with Zhang Ning, chief wine maker of Yunnan Red Wine Company.
Previous: Yunnan Red Wine Company CEO Wu Kegang
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02.22.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 4:44 pm by admin
By Jim Boyce
In December, I tagged along on a research trip by Ma Huiqin, of China Agricultural University, and visited Yunnan Red Wine Company This post about Wu Kegang, the company’s CEO, is the first in a series about an area some call Shangri-La.
Yunnan Red Wine Company CEO Wu Kegang (J. Boyce)
Bamboo, goldfish and peacocks, a tranquil pool and a sedate forest, a wine cellar and a spacious sun room, a wood-burning fireplace - these all made the mansion of Wu Kegang, CEO of Yunnan Red Wine, a relaxing spot to enjoy wine and talk about his company. I visited him with Ma Huiqin, a professor from China Agricultural University whose research ranges from the molecular biology of grapevines to the wine-buying preferences of Chinese consumers.
Wu first invested in Yunnan Red Wine in 1997. His initial stake was small - a few million RMB – but he has since taken the the company over and it has become his core business, he says.
Yunnan Red produces about 8,000 tons of wine per year. It organizes winery tours, experiments with varietals, is involved in related projects ranging from grape juice to cosmetics, and does intriguing localized marketing campaigns.
Personal reasons led him to invest, says Wu. “My wife is from Yunnan and her friend was involved in the wine company. I took it over so we would have a link to her home,” he says. “It helps that I like wine and my family likes wine. We plant, we harvest, we drink wine - my in-laws are very happy.”
The links to Yunnan are evident. Wu notes that Yunnan Red’s two main grape varieties, Crystal Dry and Rose Honey, were brought to China by missionaries. In honor of them, he is constructing a church on the winery’s grounds.
The winery is also a retreat for overnight visitors and offers an excellent menu of Yunnan food, live performances, and the opportunity to sample wines. One person at the company estimates that upward of 60,000 people visit the winery each year.
Moving beyond wine. (J. Boyce)
Visitors stock up on wine in the gift shop. (J. Boyce)
Next: An interview with Shan Shumin, general manager of Yunnan Red Wine Company.
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02.19.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 5:44 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
The Friday night wine tasting at Sequoia Café on January 25 featured three fortified wines from the Sherry region and two unfortified wines from nearby Montilla.
Sherry tastings are rare in Beijing - the only other I have attended was the launch of the Greater China Sherry Association.
We tasted the wines in the following order (I’ve included, in quotations, comments from other patrons):
Bodegas Almocaden Fino Paquiro Sherry NV (15%)
Green apple and floral scents, with a slight sweet body: it had a nice mouth feel, though a bit bland in terms of flavors. / “It’s not completely dry, it’s too sweet for Sherry - it is rounder, fuller, sweeter” - AL
Lustau Solera Reserva Puerto Fino Sherry
Baked apples on the nose, this was drier than the first, though a bit one-dimensional. / “So-so” - AL
Fino En Rama Montilla Moriles 2003 (15%)
This had a nice balance of alcohol to body. / “This is the best” - AL
Lustau Solera Reserva Capataz Andres Sherrry Deluxe Cream (20%)
This smelled a bit syrupy, a bit like Grand Marnier, with a sweet finish. / “It has a bit of citrus-y smell, like orange peel.” - ER
Pedro Ximinez Alvear Solera Montilla Moriles 1927
Sweet, viscous, dark candy apple, almost a little oily; a long finish but syrupy. / “Burnt caramel - I like this one a lot” - PS
We finished up with some Taillan XO Brandy, bottled in China by winemaker Alain Leroux, and ventured beyond the point of note-taking…
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02.18.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:39 pm by admin
Good times for taste buds continue in Beijing.
Australian wine-focused GELIPU and South African-wine focused Winelink will team up on Saturday, February 23, to present 100 ’boutique’ wines from, you guessed it, Australia and South Africa. The tasting starts at 6 PM at Tim’s Texas Roadhouse on Super Bar Street. The entry fee: RMB 100.
This is the most recent portfolio tasting offered at a low price, following on those by Torres in November and Palette in December and earlier this month.
Intriguingly, the invite says, “In the future, don’t buy from the retailer, don’t buy from the wholesaler, don’t even buy from the importer, it’s the exporter that you need to talk to!”
For more information, contact Garry at tongue.honey@gmail.com.
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Posted in Jim Boyce at 11:37 am by admin
By Jim Boyce
It isn’t everyday one gets to taste a German Merlot in Beijing. Luckily, I write away at wine and thus end up hanging out with trade people, including Stefan Fleischer, who works at Palette and whose family makes wine in Germany.
At a recent dinner at Café Europa, he brought a bottle of the family wine - 2003 Weingut der Stadt Mainz Merlot Barrel No. 2.
This fruit-driven wine has black plum and some chocolate, and, as another imbiber at our table noted, cola on the nose. It really opens up after 30 minutes and offers lots of fruit, a light to medium body, and a decent finish.
Good times!
Though it isn’t available in Beijing, I mention it because hanging around the wine scene means getting to try a great many wines, whether they be Slovenian wine, a range of Chinese wines, 100 different 2004 Bordeaux Grand Cru, a portfolio of 100 wines, or, the occasional German Merlot.
As Campbell Thompson wrote in an earlier post, this is a taster’s paradise.
Grape Wall’s Yvonne Chiong with The Fleischer (Photo: SF)
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02.16.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 1:24 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
A post on Wine Business International cites China as among the wine producers that will potentially benefit from global warming. Felicity Carter cites Richard Smart at the Climate Change and Wine 2008 conference in Barcelona.
He said that as the world warms, the wine regions most likely to thrive are those that still have cool climate regions available to exploit.
‘Chile’s Casablanca Valley and other such systems can be developed,’ he said. ‘You can go eastwards and up the Andes, or south to the South Pole.’
China, he added, has enormous land to the north they can move to. ‘I suspect that in 30 years time we will see that China is one of those countries better able to adapt to global warming.’
Other countries to benefit will be England and Denmark, which both have emerging wine regions.
For more details, see the article.
(Thanks to CT for the tip.)
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02.15.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:35 pm by admin
- By John Isacs
For his first blog entry, Taiwan-based wine educator and consultant John Isacs provides some predictions for the year ahead in Taiwan and a review of adventures in the outgoing Year of the Pig.
As I sit in my office on the first day of the Year of the Rat, a few thoughts on what is happening as we enter the Year of the Rat as well as some wine-related highlights from the Year of the Pig come to mind. In terms of the Taiwan market, a few predictions for the coming year:
- Overall wine sales will be flat until after the presidential elections when there will be slow growth, though high-end wine sales still continue to be very strong.
- US wines will miss out on weak-dollar opportunity due to lack of promotion and market strategy, while Chilean and Argentinian wines will gain market share because of price advantage and more agressive promotion
- The French wine market share continues to drop, while Italian wine market share grows, especially in terms of Pinot Grigio
- Tokaji will become the new darling of wine connoisseurs
- Sherry will become popular (OK, this one is personal, as I am interested in this area!)
In terms of the year past, it started with Madrid Fusion 2007, a food and wine congress and exhibition. I participated in the wine tract as the representative of Taiwan. We must have tasted about 500 different wines over a period of three days. The combination of jet lag and palate overload somewhat compromised my ability to fully appreciate every wine but it was educational and fun. My overall impression of Spanish wines:
- Cava has a long way to go
- The best reds are great
- Most of the whites are merely pleasant, save for the sensation Albarino
- Sherries rank among the world’s greatest wines
Speaking of Sherry, I took a quick trip to Jerez to present on the Taiwan and China markets to producers there and meet the CEO of the Jerez-Xeres-Sherry DO, Cesar Saldana. The trip’s highlight was enjoying a range of tapas and Sherries with Cesar and Paul, marketing director of Gonzalaz Byass, on the streets of Jerez. The proper way to do this is to stop at a tapas bar, have one dish and one Sherry, then move on to the next bar. Big fun.
The Year of the Pig also saw me doing a Taiwan road show for a Chinese bank. The events were for the VIPs. The bank gave them an hour presentation on investment strategies and then I introduced, in Mandarin, “The Art of Wine Appreciation“. Though I enjoy doing TV and radio programs, live performances are the most exciting. Each show for the bank had about 200 attendees to whom I introduced an Italian Chianti Classico, a Rioja Reseva and a New World wine. My recipe for a successful event: keep it lively and fun, and make sure the wines are good.
Meeting wine producers and makers is another benefit of my trade. Among the highlights last year was dining with Wolf Blass, who is is a blast, fooling around with my buddy Francesco Ricasoli, the 32nd Baron Ricasoli and a fun and nice guy, the larger-than-life Hungarian wine producer and expert, Csaba Gergly, and meeting and tasting with numerous other wine celebrities who stopped by Taiwan.
My trip to Scotland was also memorable. Grant & Sons sent me to learn more about Whisky so that we develop a formula along the lines of our successful wine dinners and events. The short trip was great fun. Visiting the Glenfiddich distillery in the morning and tasting Whisky directly from the barrel, then going out to shoot skeet was a highlight. Only in Scotland would they mix the two in that sequence.
They’re not Famous Grousse, but skeet will do.
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02.14.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 3:57 pm by admin
- By Jim Boyce
Palette held the Beijing tasting of the year thus far as if offered patrons samples of 100 wines for a mere RMB 100 (USD 14). The seven-hour February 2 event drew more than 100 people who tasted wine grouped primarily by grape variety.
I’m a big fan of the portfolio assembled by owner John Gai, and will have an interview with him on his trials, tribulations and adventures in picking the wines.
Palette is particularly strong in Australian and Italian wine, though the Argentine Michel Torino – newly added to the portfolio - stood out as a highlight for me. The fragrant Sauvignon Blanc 2007 had nice acidity and is good value at RMB112, while the Pinto Gris has an incredibly (some might think too) fragrant rose nose and checked in at RMB125.
Among the sweeter wines, Peter Schandl Cuvee Beerenelnauslese 2002 (RMB208) and Domaine de Cabidos Petit Manseng (RMB218) offer excellent taste and value.
I also liked the Mercury AOC Pinot Noir (RMB320), Michel Torino CUMA Organic Malbec (RMB125), Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz (a big funky in-your-face wine; RMB390) and Heartland Shiraz, both the Director’s Cut (RMB289) and the entry level version (RMB157; among the best values in town).
I asked John Gai which wine in the room he would pick to drink on a long plane ride. After much thought, he went for a Will Taylor Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. I also asked Palette’s Stefan Fleischer, who - after showing shock that I wouldn’t let him take a red and a white - chose the Shaw Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2006, and Leo Liu, who chose the Mercury AOC Pinot Noir
As with the December tasting, attendees tasted some excellent Gouda being made in Shanxi province. Kudos to Palette’s staff, which did a good job overall in pouring the wine and making sure there was plenty of water on hand. Palette’s wines are available via the company’s Shunyi wine shop and restaurant, Central Park outlet, or Web site.
100 bottles of wine on the table, 100 bottles of wine… (Photo: Palette)
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02.13.08
Posted in Jim Boyce, Uncategorized at 9:47 pm by admin
Alan Ujcic: ‘Welcome to Slovenia!’
Thirty-five people gathered for the most recent Friday night gathering at Sequoia Café as Alan Ujcic arranged a second tasting of wines from his homeland - Slovenia. The event followed up on a similar tasting at Sequoia last year. Ujcic seemed to enjoy the night, except for my continued singing of a revised version of the Albania song from Wag the Dog. ‘Slo-ve-ni-a, Slo-ve-ni-a, it borders on the A-dri-a-tic…’
In any case, two wines hailed from regions near Austria and five from the Italian side. Based on a sampling of people in the room, the favorites seemed to be.
- Radona Silver sparkling wine NV, with a green-yellow color, a touch of sweetness, and stone fruits on its nose and light body. (”I’d serve this with ham and melon,” said PA).
- Princic Merlot 2005, with some cherry and plum jamminess on the nose, and a soft body with some cherries, red fruit and a touch of funkiness. (”It’s got a bit of barnyard smell and I mean that in a good way,” said PA.)
- Cotar Cabernet Sauvignon 2000, with blackberry on the nose and body, as well as earthiness and soft tannins.
Several people also cited the Scurek Rose 2006 (with peach and strawberry flavours) as their favorite and the Quercus Pinot Noir 2003 garnered a few good comments. The reds tended to suffer from too much tannin and not enough fruit. The tasting cost RMB 100 per person, and included cheese, bread, assorted meats, sandwiches and brownies.
Starting with the whites…
About 35 tasters showed up
It really does border on the Adriatic!
Alan Ujcic: ‘You want more, don’t you?’
The Slovenian tasting: a wine map (click to enlarge)
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02.06.08
Posted in Jim Boyce at 5:19 pm by admin
By Jim Boyce
(© Kisten)
Happy Year of the Rat to readers of this blog. In the new year, Grape Wall of China will continue giving the views of wine distributors, makers, consultants, academics and consumers here in the world’s largest market.
By the way, when people ask me about “must see” attractions in Beijing, I include the Chinese New Year fireworks. Last year, I made this video of dozens of fireworks displays going off at midnight. (The structure at right is Workers’ Stadium, which will host soccer matches during the Olympics). Click the photo to get the video.
The second video shows fireworks exploding about five meters in front of my apartment’s windows. The clip is a bit long, but then again, the fireworks are unrelenting, and it gives you an idea of the evening’s intensity.
Happy Chinese New Year!
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Posted in Chantal Chi at 4:06 pm by admin
By Chantal Chi
A few weeks ago, just before the snow came, I went to a wine shop opening in Shanghai called French Touch. Despite the unusually cold weather, the shop was full of guests, including wine professionals, which just goes to show that with wine, China is hot.
This is shown by recent China Customs statistics about imported bottled wines. More than 15.5 million liters of French wine was imported in 2007, more than double the amount in 2006, which already was double the amount in 2005. If wine is hot, the temperature is rising fast when it comes to French wine. Australian, Italian and Spanish wines saw growth, with Italian wines up 177 percent. Bravo!
France continues to lead the market, both by volume and by value. Unbelievably, it not only remains in front, but won back 7 percent of market value (this success seems to be due both to volume and Grand Cru sales). It’s easy to understand why, since Chinese still love giving French wine as gifts that brings face and prestige.
As this “social code” of giving wine as gifts increasingly turns into drinking wine as part of a lifestyle, we can expect to see even more growth in the market.
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