Grape Wall of China

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

Tasting time: Beijing

By Jim Boyce

Upcoming Beijing wine-related events
Friday, May 2, 6:30 PM, Sequoia Cafe (Sanlitun), RMB 100
Sparkling wine tasting; RSVP with Frank at 13701-178-073.
Tuesday, May 6, 7:30 PM, SALT (RMB488)
Altano Reserva wine tasting, with oenologist Jorge Nunes and a degustation menu, by Torres China; RSVP with Sophie at 5165-5519, x208 or sophie@torres.com.cn.
Thursday, May 8, 7-9 PM, Block [...]

China winery visit: Bordeaux-style Chateau Bolongbao

By Jim Boyce
I joined Marc Curtis of China Wine Tours on March 24 for a visit to Chateau Bolongbao, just outside of Beijing. Curtis will bring his first tour group from the United States to China in October, with the planned itinerary including Beijing, Xian, Shanxi, Xinjiang, and Shanghai. Here are some photos from the [...]

Beijing Metro: The ‘wine humidor’

By Jim Boyce
If you hear the words “wine humidor” and think of oak barrel displays, wooden shelves, and row upon row of top-end wine, you might be a tad disappointed by the Metro hypermarket on Beijing’s outskirts. This is a storage facility, plain and simple, with fluorescent lights, fabricated steel shelving, and a warehouse [...]

Wine on The Wall: Robert Parker comes to China

By Jim Boyce
Wine writer Robert Parker makes his first trip to China next month and the price tag for the two dinners that ASC Fine Wines is organizing for him is nothing to sniff at: RMB15888 (USD2270) per head.
The Beijing dinner will be held on May 24 the Great Wall and catered by Brian McKenna, [...]

Wine education in China – campus edition

By Huiqin Ma

Campbell Thompson of The Wine Republic was a recent guest lecturer in my Wine Culture and Appreciation course at China Agricultural University, on the outskirts of Beijing near the Summer Palace. He presented on China’s wine market to about 120 students from universities throughout the city.
None of the students are in majors related [...]

Tasting time: Beijing

By Jim Boyce

Upcoming Beijing wine-related events
Tuesday, April 22, 7 PM, Barolo (Ritz-Carlton Beijing), RMB488+15%
Giovanni Rosso wine dinner, with wine maker David Rosso; by East Meets West; RSVP with 6445-5797 (EMW), 5908-8151 (Ritz-Carlton)
Thursday, April 24, 7:30 PM, Cafe Europa, RMB180
Yering Station tasting with 4 wine-food pairings; by The Wine Republic; RSVP at 5869-5663 or 13910-097-621.
Thursday, April [...]

Tim Hanni: Hate Sauvignon Blanc? Try blaming your childhood

By Jim Boyce
“If you hated mowing the grass as a youth, you might just hate Sauvignon Blanc.”
“There is so much stress on luxury goods that we would rather people not drink wine if it’s the ‘wrong’ brand.”
“Imagine you are trying to sell shoes and you don’t realize people have differently sized feet. If [...]

Coming up: More posts than you can shake a corkscrew at

By Jim Boyce
Expect a steady flow of posts over the next two weeks. Along with articles by Ma Huiqin and Campbell Thompson, we will introduce a new contributor to the blog. I will also include write-ups of my meeting with Tim Hanni, the Crown Wine Cellar opening, some new “great value” French wines in Beijing, [...]

Customs investigation: ASC Fine Wines faces USD350K fine

By Jim Boyce
Decanter is reporting that China Customs is fining ASC Fine Wines USD350,000 for under-declaring its wine imports over the past two years. ASC Managing Partner Don St. Pierre Jr. was recently released from three weeks of detention.
ASC and other wine importers have been subjected to a China-wide inspection by customs focussing [sic] on [...]

Napa Valley Vintners come to town

By Jim Boyce
Napa Valley Vintners held a trade tasting on Monday, April 7 at Central Party Institute for Foreign Affairs in Beijing. Most of the 11 producers on hand provided a sample each of a red and a white wine. I stuck to the latter, my favorites being Buehler Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 2005 (dark fruit, [...]

By / buy the case: Carrefour 2008 April Wine Fair

By Jim Boyce
The Shuang Jing branch of Carrefour in Beijing launched its 2008 April Wine Fair last Thursday. The event drew a sizable crowd as the opening day included at least a 20 percent discount on all wine.
I arrived around 9 PM, unaware of the scale of the fair or that many distributors would be [...]

Uncorking nine Chinese wines in Beijing / 四个外国人对9款中国葡萄酒的品评

By Ma Huiqin
Here is a Chinese translation of the article “Taste test: Uncorking nine Chinese wines in Beijing“, which saw Lawrence Osborne and James Fallows as well as fellow contributors Campbell Thompson and Jim Boyce try local vino. It first appeared on my personal blog.
四个外国人对9款中国葡萄酒的品评
爱酒的我们常常会品尝葡萄酒，写下自己的评语，也会看葡萄酒专栏作家对葡萄酒的品评。外国人对中国葡萄酒的品尝总体上非常有限，有些人是抱着先入为主的看法对中国葡萄酒持不懈一顾的态度，即使有偶尔的品尝也是一两个出名的酒园而已。
Jim Boyce是我遇到过的对中国葡萄酒持非常开放态度的外国人，他和他的几个朋友前些天搞了一些小小的中国葡萄酒的品尝活动，并把这次活动记录在他的博客上。古话讲：开卷有益，我想有不少葡萄酒消费者和业界的同仁愿意了解一下这些来自国外的葡萄酒爱好者和专业人士是如何评价这些我们常见或不常见的葡萄酒，从另一个角度，听听不同的声音。
参加品酒的四个人是来自纽约的葡萄酒记者Lawrence Osborne、太平洋月刊的记者James Fallows，曾任ASC精品葡萄酒市场总监的Campbell Thompson和Jim本人。
因为时间的关系，我无法把Jim写得美丽而精确的英文完美地翻译给读者，尽管在我阅读他的文字的时候，得到了极大的享受，再一次感受语言的美好。有兴趣的读者请访问他的博客http://www.grapewallofchina.com/
以下为英文的译文
长城赤霞珠2003
有一定的果香，尽管香气较为微弱并带有一丝止咳糖浆的感觉，不坚实的酒体带有轻微的浆果/樱桃的香气，收结很类似于葡萄汁。
餐桌评语：“口感尚可，但并不宜人，果香已经松弛消退。”
新天红葡萄酒（无年份，人民币 28元）
色泽为沉郁的红色，带有一点黄色的色调，能感受到橡木和一点（相当微弱的）黑色水果的香气，没有回味（原作者注：因为曾经从我的读者那里听到对新天的积极评价，所以很快我会尝试更贵的新天葡萄酒。）
餐桌评语：“我很高兴这款酒的定价没有超过28元。”
撒拉莫世家赤霞珠2004（人民币45元）
闻起来有淡淡的水果味儿（黑樱桃），酒体蕴含着一些深色水果的芬芳，果酱感和一丝的香料味儿。
餐桌评语： “有一定的品种特征，但还是有些单薄。”
怡园赤霞珠2005 （人民币60元）
闻香带有轻盈宜人的水果风格，果香和单宁相当协调，但葡萄酒的色泽让人觉得它仿佛来自一个更老的年份。
餐桌评语： “尝起来象一款完美的美国葡萄酒”，“显然比撒拉莫世家高了一个层次”，“他们想达到某种不容易达到的境界。”
波龙堡2005珍藏（人民币195）
闻起来有很多的橡木（锯木屑？）味，对随后的黑果酱味来它说太浓了，在酒体上是同样的特征。
餐桌评语： “橡木味奇怪而且重” ，“象进了木匠店”，“象松脂”，我个人喜欢这一条评语:“带有果实风味的有趣的木头味儿”，“既会有人喜欢这款酒，也有人会讨厌这款酒”
太阳桃红2005 [...]

Screw it? Video conference with Wolf Blass, George Samios

By Jim Boyce
After Australian Embassy staff checked my bag, passed me through a metal detector, and gave me a cavity search (OK, scratch the last part), I joined four local wine journalists in Beijing last Tuesday for a video conference with iconic wine maker Wolf Blass and Foster’s Global Wine Ambassador George Samios. The event [...]

Grape press: South Africa, Chile, New Zealand, and France

By Jim Boyce
Some links to a bunch of news stories linked to China’s wine sector:
Chile and China signed a “free trade service trade pact” on April 13 that follows up on the free trade agreement signed in 2005. According to Xinhua, “bilateral trade soared 65 percent year on year to 14.7 billion U.S. dollars in [...]

Travel with wine, trouble with wine

By Huiqin Ma

My friend and wine maker Charles was stopped at Yantai airport in Shandong Province last week. The reason: security found more than two bottles of wine in his check-in luggage. He had to leave numerous bottles of expensive wine behind, including a special one meant for me!
Charles asked if there is a new [...]

Grape Wall: Now available in Chinese, Spanish, French, and German!

Kind of…
I added the “babelfish” application. Click one of the flags on the panel and “babelfish” will machine-translate this Web page into that country’s leading language. Whether it ends up making any sense… well, maybe someone out there can tell me (at beijingboyce@yahoo.com).
Here’s the panel:

(Jim Boyce)

Carrefour (Beijing) wine fair begins today

By Jim Boyce
Carrefour kicks off its 2008 Beijing April Wine Fair today at its Shuang Jing store. From 6 PM to midnight, there is a 20 percent discount (coupons cannot used in conjunction with the discounts). The wine fair continues until April 27.

keep looking »

  • About Grape Wall of China


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    A nonprofit blog by wine professionals and consumers.


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    Email: beijingboyce at yahoo.com

  • 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