Grape Wall of China

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

Unbottled: A foreign reporter misrepresents China’s wine industry

By Ma Huiqin Tim Johnson, the Beijing bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, wrote a blog post this week and cited an anonymous source – purportedly a Chinese winery executive – whose claims include that 80 percent of wine bottled in China is imported bulk “garbage.” The post has been picked up by several influential sites, [...]

Beijing tasting time: Trimbach, Taylor, and more

By Jim Boyce A quick look at some of this week’s upcoming wine tastings. For the long-term view, including a slew of Beaujolais Nouveau parties by French Wine Paradox, check this events page. – Thursday, October 30, 7-8.30 PM, Bento & Berries Shop (Kerry Centre Hotel), free Sparkling wine, Champagne & Beaujolais tasting, by Top [...]

Carrefour October wine fair: Picture this

These give an idea of the scale of the Carrefour October Wine Fair held last week. From the looks of it, they were taken before all of the glasses ran out. Thanks to Echo Liu for the photos. You can find her Greek Wine in China page on Facebook. – See also: October Wine Fair [...]

Vintage tasting: City Weekend surveys Beijing’s wine scene… in 1998

By Jim Boyce A few weeks ago, I popped into Jenny Lou’s gourmet shop near Chaoyang Park and counted around 100 different sparkling wines. One hundred! Choice in Beijing, in terms of shops, tastings, and restaurant, bar, and hotel wine lists, is incredibly diverse when compared to a few years back. Case in point: this [...]

Carrefour wine fair picks: Southern exposure

By Jim Boyce I tried about 40 samples at last night’s Carrefour wine fair, which – given the freebies and discounts – saw both shoppers and shopping carts fully loaded. (Note: See bring your own glass for suggestions on how to make this event better.) Making a strong showing: brands that feature animals on their [...]

Carrefour wine fair 2008: Bring your own glass?

By Jim Boyce Carrefour held its October wine fair in Beijing last night. As in the past, it drew a strong turnout and featured: Samples from hundreds of wines from several dozen distributors; Discounts on all bottles; Chinese and expatriates sipping wine and buying in bulk – you could say both shoppers and shopping carts [...]

Eureka! California Wine Institute brings Golden State wineries to China

Dozens of Golden State winery reps poured for distributors, restaurateurs, journalists, and consumers as the California Wine Institute held a two-hour tasting last Friday at 1949: The Hidden City in Beijing. My notes will take time to decipher, given they look – as Ring Lardner might have put it – “like the output of a [...]

Words get in the way: The China sommelier contest and the challenge of wine vocabulary

By Chantal Chi Everything related to wine is chic in China and that goes for sommeliers. I remember three years ago when sommelier was just a simple French word, but now it has become a symbol of high class in the wine world of China. Well, I am not surprised. Chinese learn quickly once they [...]

Tasting time: Carrefour wine fair, Malbec tasting, and more

This week’s Beijing lineup includes the October Wine Fair at Carrefour (Shuang Jing branch), which typically involves samples of hundreds of wines and deals on bottles (I’m still working on the Chateau St. Michelle / Columbia Crest package I bought last time). By the way, the poster advises people to request an invitation via email, [...]

Joining the bunch: Nicolas Carre, manager of Maxim’s

Nicolas Carre is joining the group of contributors (see list at right) at Grape Wall of China, a nonprofit site that brings wine consumers, distributors, makers, academics, sommeliers, and consultants together to provide information and opinions about the country’s growing wine scene. Carre is manager and sommelier at the new Maxim’s in Beijing. He is [...]

Back to school in Barossa: Wine Australia offers all-expenses paid visits

Wine Australia is offering a dozen “all-expenses paid positions” for a five-day course called the Landmark Australia Tutorial to be held next June in the Barossa Valley. Some details from a press release by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, the government agency that oversees Wine Australia: The Landmark Australian Tutorial will take place during [...]

Tasting time: New Zealand, Sequoia, Mundo Vino

By Jim Boyce Beijing will see a good crop of wine events over the next few days, with everything from the return of the Friday with Frank gatherings at Sequoia Cafe to a tour of New Zealand wine regions by The Wine Republic to a tasting of over 100 wines for RMB150 by Palette Wines [...]

Are you experienced? Hilton’s massive annual wine event

By Jim Boyce Two years ago, I lost my mobile phone. Last year, I accidentally broke a bottle of Shiraz on a marble staircase. This year, who knows? The eleventh annual Beijing Food & Wine Experience is slated for Saturday, November 29 in Beijing. While the 2007 event covered two days, this year the trade [...]

Grape Press: Inaugural Penfolds China Sommelier Competition held

The inaugural Penfolds China Sommelier Competition held in Shanghai saw Xinjiang native Lu Yang take top honors, which includes a trip to the 2009 Penfolds Grange release dinner, reports Aubrey Buckingham in the Shanghai Daily: The competition, organized by Penfolds’ parent company Foster’s Wine Estates Asia in conjunction with local distributor ASC Fine Wine, drew [...]

Wine Word: Zeon Chow, Rutherford Bench & Napa Reserve

By Jim Boyce Last month, Shanghai-based Rutherford Bench celebrated its first year of business. I talked to deputy general manager Zeon Chow about the rationale behind opening a company focused on Napa Valley in a market led by French and Australian wines, the reaction of consumers to these typically fruit-forward wines, the lessons learned over [...]

Weekly wine events: From post to page

My weekly listing of Beijing wine events poses a couple of problems. First, it sometimes gets buried quickly beneath new posts. Second, I get event invites almost daily and want to pass the info along right away rather than wait for the next listing. To deal with this, I’ve added a wine event listings page [...]

Friday food fight: Hairy crabs

Let’s take the spice level way down this week and claw away at a food that fits the season: hairy crabs. Writes Shanghai Daily: “For almost two centuries, it has been a sacred rite and late-autumn ritual for nearly every Shanghai family to eat da zha xie, or hairy crabs when the cold, crisp autumn [...]

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  • About Grape Wall of China

    beijing-boyce-grape-wall-of-china-logo

    A nonprofit collaborative blog


    Follow: Weibo, Twitter and Facebook.
    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


    Li Demei
    Wine maker


    Huiqin Ma
    Professor


    Campbell Thompson
    The Wine Republic co-owner


    Frankie Zhao
    Pro-Wine Training & Consultancy owner


    Jim Boyce
    Consumer, blog administrator