Grape Wall of China

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

Wine deal: Dynasty to distribute JP Chenet wines in China

By Nicolas Carre, Top-three Chinese wine producer Dynasty will distribute JP Chenet wines in a deal made with massive French producer Les Grands Chais de France. According to this site, “The Franco-Chinese partnership between these two companies was initiated three years ago: Les Grands Chais de France had then obtained the import and distribution of [...]

Jeff Gao: Why Chinese buy Bordeaux, wines for beginners, and more

By Jim Boyce – Jeffrey Gao is a BD executive with a global IP networking technology firm, but his passion lies with wine and music (the NBA comes a close third). Born and raised in Beijing, he lived in the United States for 17 years and spent 10 of them in the Bay Area, where [...]

Bubble deal: RMB200 Champagne, RMB50 sparkling wine in China

Bubble fans: www.yangjiu.com features two good deals, from today to next Thursday, on sparkling wine: Heidsieck Monopole Blue Top Brut Champagne, which typically sells for over RMB300, is RMB200 (for those into scores, according to wine.com, it received 93 points from Wine Enthusiast and 91 points from Wine Spectator, with the latter listing it as [...]

Grape Wall Challenge: Top ten red wines in China under RMB100

On March 13, a dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 23 red wines that retail for less than RMB100 in China (see gallery). The experts rated each out of 20 points, while the consumers had four choices – “love it“, “like it“, “dislike it” or “hate [...]

Grape Wall Challenge: Top ten white wines in China under RMB100

On March 13, a dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 21 white wines that retail for less than RMB100 in China (see gallery). It was a close finish for best white wine among the experts, who rated each one out of 20 points, while a clear [...]

Grape Wall Challenge: Event notes and photo gallery

The Grape Wall Challenge last Friday in Beijing brought together 18 judges to taste wines that retail in China for under RMB100 (see gallery below). The challenge was a first in that it was organized by a blog, saw half of the judging done by consumers, and included  Chinese citizens as 16 of 18 judges. [...]

Grape Wall Challenge: The consumer panel – red wines

The afternoon session of The Grape Wall Challenge will feature red wines. Here is a list of the six people on the consumer panel. They will get the wines in flights of ten and are being asked to judge each wine as “I love it,” “I like it,” “I dislike it,” or “I hate it. [...]

Grape Wall Challenge: The consumer panel – white wines

The morning session of the first Grape Wall Challenge started 15 minutes ago. Here is a list of the six people on the consumer panel. They will get the wines in flights of ten and are being asked to judge each wine as “I love it,” “I like it,” “I dislike it,” or “I hate [...]

The Grape Wall Challenge: The countdown is on!

The judges are confirmed, the bottles are ready, and the 24-hour countdown is on for the Grape Wall Challenge, a contest to be held tomorrow to judge wines that retail in China for less than RMB100. We’ll have two groups of judges – experts and consumers – sniffing, sipping, savoring, and scoring during the day [...]

Distribution deal: Links to handle Shaw & Smith

Hot on the heels of announcements of exclusive distribution of Australia’s Torbreck and France’s Louis Roederer wines in Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China, Links Concept has also inked a deal with Adelaide area winery Shaw & Smith. It covers the Hong Kong and mainland China, with Macau expected to be added to the mix [...]

The Grape Wall Challenge: The expert wine panel

The Grape Wall Challenge is this Friday in Maxim’s Solana and we have 18 judges coming to taste ~60 wines that retail for less than RMB100. The wines come from 20 China-based distributors. (Note: This is NOT a public event. It is limited to the judges, the Challenge directors, the media, and Maxim’s employees. We [...]

Last call: Seeking a wine judge for Grape Wall Challenge

Today at 4 PM is the deadline to enter our “You Be the Judge“  contest with the Beyond Beijing program at China Radio International. In short, we are looking for a Chinese consumer to sit on a panel with five other local consumers in our Grape Wall Wine Challenge, to be held on March 13 [...]

Tasting time Beijing: Drink like a Roman; ‘Club of Five’ Bordeaux dinner

Friends, Romans, wine lovers, lend us your livers: Sequoia Cafe will hold a wine tasting that features grape varieties grown in ancient Rome. According to organizer Frank Siegel, two of the four wines are made from Aglianico grapes: “Aglianco was the principal grape of the famous Falernian wine; the Roman equivalent of a first growth [...]

Charles Carrard on wine distribution in China: Shifts, prospects, the “dumping ground” mindset, and more

By Jim Boyce – Charles Carrard is the director of north China for French Wine Paradox, which handles about 500 different wines in China, employs 200 people, and has its headquarters in Hangzhou and branches in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. I talked to him about the swiftly changing wine distribution market, the fastest growing [...]

Grape Press: China a bright spot for Australia, U.S. wine exporters

Hong Kong and mainland China have been serving as bright spots for wine exporters in the United States and Australia. While global American wine export volume and value by rose 8 percent and 6 percent respectively in 2008 as compared to 2007, it saw massive jumps in China, reports Decanter, although the local market is [...]

You be the judge: Join the wine panel at Grape Wall Challenge

- Grape Wall of China is teaming up with the Beyond Beijing program on China International Radio to find a judge for the Grape Wall Wine Challenge. We are looking for a Chinese consumer to sit on a panel with five others on March 13 at Maxim’s (Solana) and taste wines that retail for less [...]

It’s on: Twenty distributors confirmed for Grape Wall Challenge

The Grape Wall Challenge, scheduled for March 13, now has a full slate of wines. Twenty distributors confirmed their participation, from the biggest companies to the smaller players, from those providing wines from many countries to those focusing on a single nation. The wines will hail from six countries: France, Italy, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, [...]

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