Grape Wall of China

A China Wine Blog: The Scene in the World’s Largest Market

Hong Kong abolishes wine taxes: let the savings begin!

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 [...]

More bottle for your buck: Value vino in Shanghai

- 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 [...]

Hong Kong abolishes wine taxes: the impact on China?

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. [...]

Selling wine in China: Interview – Ethan Perk of Jebsen Fine Wines

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 [...]

The Shangri-la series: Yunnan Red Wine Company Wine Maker Zhang Ning

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 [...]

Yet another 100 wines for 100 kuai event: Southern-hemisphere style

- 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 [...]

The Shangri-la series: Yunnan Red Wine Company GM Shan Shumin

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 [...]

The Shangri-la series: Yunnan Red Wine Company CEO Wu Kegang

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, [...]

Spanish showdown: Sherry and Montilla in Beijing

- 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 [...]

100 wines for 100 kuai (again!) – Australian, South African wines

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. [...]

Lebe das gute Leben: German Merlot!

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 [...]

Chillling out: China wine sector may benefit from global warming

- 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 [...]

Taiwan round-up: From Sherry to skeet shooting

- 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 [...]

Palette II: 100 wines for 100 kuai in Beijing

- 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 [...]

From Ljubljana with love: Beijing’s second Slovenian wine tasting

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 [...]

Grape Wall of China: Happy Chinese New Year! Fireworks, anyone?

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, [...]

Wine sales growth: French fever in Shanghai

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 [...]

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  • Grape Wall Contributors


    In alphabetical order (see full list)


    Nicolas Carre
    Sommelier


    Chantal Chi
    Writer


    Yvonne Chiong
    Sommelier, consultant


    Judy Leissner
    Grace Vineyard CEO


    Alain Leroux
    Wine maker, consultant


    Li Demei
    Wine maker


    Huiqin Ma
    Professor


    Campbell Thompson
    The Wine Republic co-owner


    Brian Yao
    Consumer


    Frankie Zhao
    Pro-Wine Training & Consultancy owner


    Jim Boyce
    Consumer, blog administrator