Grape Wall of China

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

What wine pairs with stinky tofu? The China National Sommelier Competition 2009

By Jim Boyce Know which wine pairs with stinky tofu? Able to identify the difference between a corked wine and one that is oaked? Realize that the pros ease open – rather than pop – a bottle of sparkling wine? Then the China National Sommelier Competition 2009, organized by Asia Wine Institute and Asia Business [...]

Palette Vino in Beijing: Cozy confines, good wines, superb prices

By Jim Boyce As I am a fan of the Palette Wines portfolio and of enjoying a few bottles with friends in cozy hutong surroundings, the combination of the two is bound to be a winner. Since writing last October about the Dongsishitiao branch of Palette Vino, in Beijing, I have returned four times to [...]

It makes me feel dirty all over: X-rated Australian wine in China

Note: You can follow this blog on Twitter and Facebook. Those who enjoy using the term “wine porn” should get a bottle  of the Australian wine Alice White as sold by mega-booze firm Constellation here in China. The tasting notes on the back label provide a description that sounds fit for B-grade porn flick. Namely, [...]

China road trip: Food and wine in Changsha, Hunan province

By Brian Yao A couple of weeks ago, I visited a customer in the suburb of Xingsha in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan province in south China. I love this place and find the local spicy food to be quite good. I stayed in the Venice Hotel, which has a good restaurant and some [...]

Chantal Chi on the road: Is there “terroir” in China?

By Chantal Chi After spending a decade visiting the world’s wine regions, I decided this past year to see how the wine industry is progressing at home in China. Flying over China makes me realize that this country, with its diversity of climates and soils, is best considered as a continent. Given this, there should [...]

Simply Bordeaux 2009: 100 bottles of wine in the hall, 100 bottles of wine…

By Jim Boyce The Simply Bordeaux 2009 tour recently stopped in Beijing to promote the “top 100″ wine selections for China as chosen at a tasting held in January. I participated in that tasting with three wine experts in Shanghai – we judged more than 300 different bottles of Bordeaux in just over two days. [...]

Is there any good Chinese wine? Our trilingual answer…

By Jim Boyce Is there any good Chinese wine? I have heard this question hundreds of times and it is usually either from a) a foreigner living in China who has tried entry-level wine from one of the massive companies that dominate the market, such as Great Wall and Dynasty, and found it sorely lacking [...]

  • About Grape Wall of China


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

    A nonprofit blog by wine professionals and consumers.


    Follow on 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


    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