Grape Wall of China

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

Tommy Lam: State of wine service in China, national sommelier finals, and more

By Jim Boyce Tommy Lam is the organizer of the China National Sommelier Competition 2009, which will hold its finals on July 7 in Shanghai, and the junior sommelier series set for Beijing on July 5 and Shanghai on July 6. Lam holds an MBA and Wine MBA, is involved in wine programs in Singapore, [...]

On the vine: Junior sommelier session, Oregon wine tasting, Hilton wine fair

An offshoot of the China National Sommelier Competition, a ‘junior sommelier‘ session will be held in Beijing on July 5 and in Shanghai on July 6. According to the Asia Wine Institute, it is aimed at “less experienced wine service staff, or simply F&B professionals looking to upgrade their knowledge in wine service.” The event [...]

Taste test in China: Chateau ‘Sun God’ wine by Great Wall

By Brian Yao Thanks to a friend, I had the chance to talk to the agency for Great Wall winery and taste one of its products. The purpose was to help find a proper marketing strategy for the wine Chateau Sun God. Five people attended the session, all of them wine consumers in Beijing with [...]

Grape Press: Chinese firm buys majority stake in Bordeaux vineyard

AFP reports that a Chinese company has bought a portion of Bordeaux vineyard (my highlights): A Chinese firm has taken a majority stake in a Bordeaux vineyard, the latest move by the emerging Asian giant into the world of French wine, a company who advised on the deal said Sunday. HongKong A and A International, [...]

Let the pouring begin: China National Sommelier Competition finalists set

The jury for the qualifying rounds of the China National Sommelier Competition, by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI), has chosen eight candidates, rather than an originally planned six, to participate in the finals in Shanghai on July 7. According to a press release for the event, the candidates are: Frank Hao – The [...]

Miguel Torres: Selling wine in China, the new Torres-Grace wine, and more

By Jim Boyce I recently tagged along to Chengdu with a group of writers as Torres president Miguel A Torres donated RMB500,000 to build a school to replace one severely damaged during last year’s earthquake in Sichuan. We also tried a new Muscat wine called Symphony made via cooperation between Torres and Shanxi-based winery Grace [...]

Grape press: Chinese find too much ‘la feet’ in port; ‘made in Hong Kong’ wine

- By Jim Boyce What is one major challenge of selling vintage port in China? Ironically, for a country that has a love affair with La Feet (er, Lafite), the problem with port might be too much sole, writes Elin McCoy in this Bloomberg piece: The best vintage ports are largely made the old-fashioned way, [...]

Grape Press: 9000-year-old Chinese ‘wine’ recreated; plus, Is beer better with Chinese food?

American brewer Dogfish Head has cracked an ancient Chinese secret. According to John Roach at National Geographic News, the brewery has created a beverage “similar to one made in China some 9,000 years ago.” Sam Calagione of the Dogfish Head brewery in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, used a recipe that included rice, honey, and grape and [...]

Wine and education: Miguel Torres Foundation to fund new school in Sichuan, China

By Jim Boyce Torres president Miguel A Torres visited Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province earlier this week to donate RMB500,000 for the construction of a new school to replace one severely damaged during last May’s earthquake. Construction of the school – Wangcang Fuqing County Torres Hope Primary School – is slated to begin this month [...]

Grape Press: Chinese workers and California’s wine history, and more

Some picks from recent China-related wine news… Chinese are a growing player in the world of wine as consumers, but according to the San Francisco Chronicle, they also helped get Californian wine off the ground, so to speak. From an article titled, ” California wine industry started with Chinese workers“: Old newspaper articles and other [...]

High on wine: Forget a wine cellar, China’s Yunnan province has a wine tower

By Maggie Rauch The city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan (South of the Clouds) province, sits at 1,900 meters (about 6,200 feet). One day that might mean interesting things for wine making, but right now it just means that the city is home to China’s national high-altitude training center for Olympic athletes. That base, bizarrely [...]

  • About Grape Wall of China


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    A nonprofit blog by wine professionals and consumers.


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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