Grape Wall of China

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

Sommelier showdown: Park Hyatt Beijing takes the China wine services title

By Jim Boyce The finals of the recent National Wine Services Team Competition in Shanghai saw the Park Hyatt Beijing, led by captain Lee Meiyue, take top honors against dozens of teams from across the nation. The trio of Niki Hui 惠金凤, Honey Jia 贾晓林 and Kerry Qin 秦莉 topped the competition in an all [...]

Gerard Basset to China sommeliers: Your job is sales

~ By Jim Boyce “The sommelier is a salesman, but some [in the business] do not like this,” said Gerard Basset to several hundred people, including a good number of China-based sommeliers, at the recent China Wine Revolution event in Shanghai. Basset, who brings major credentials to the table as reigning World’s Best Sommelier, a [...]

China wine maps: So, um, where is Ningxia? And where are its wineries?

By Jim Boyce While quite a few people have heard about the up-and-coming wine region of Ningxia, some only vaguely know the location of this isolated place and its wineries, with “vaguely” including “somewhere in China”. Here is a look at the region via five maps. Perhaps Ningxia is best described as being in north-central China. [...]

Head of the glass: Professor Ma Huiqin on teaching wine appreciation in China for 10+ years

~ Professor Ma Huiqin started a wine appreciation course in 1998 at China Agricultural University in Beijing. Except for a three-year break, when she was doing post-doc work in Stellenbosch in South Africa, Ma has introduced hundreds of students in Beijing to wine each year. While known to many as a molecular biologist and wine [...]

Parker in Peking flashback: The man, the visit, the poster…

By Jim Boyce It’s been more than four years since Robert Parker made his first — and only — visit to Beijing, a trip that included sipping and nibbling on the Great Wall of China. Today, regular reader Mr Miyagi reminded me of this by sending the above e-poster. The wine scene has changed a [...]

New wine show math in Shanghai: ProWein + FHC China = ProWine China

~ By Jim Boyce Messe Düsseldorf, organizer of the massive ProWein wine fair in Germany, and China International Exhibitions (CIE), organizer of Food and Hospitality China (FHC) in Shanghai, have teamed up to establish an annual event called ProWine China. The first exhibition is set for next year from November 13 to November 15 in [...]

Michel Rolland to China wine industry: Work on your vineyards

~ By Jim Boyce Focus on the vineyards. That is the advice winemaker and consultant Michel Rolland had for China’s wine industry during a series of “China Wine Revolution” panels at the FCH China trade show in Shanghai. Rolland was keynote speaker for a panel that included professor Li Demei of Beijing University of Agriculture [...]

English sparkling wine in China: Will Chapel Down fight its way in?

~ By Jim Boyce Perhaps not quite yet. But Chapel Down sparkling wine from Kent did make an appearance at the White Collar Boxing event held at the Renaissance Capital in Beijing on Saturday night. That event featured sixteen ‘white collar’ folks — an accountant, a bar owner, a magazine editor, and so on — [...]

In China’s Outback: Australian Lilian Carter on making wine in Xinjiang

~ By Jim Boyce This fall, Lillian Carter started her second China adventure when she headed to Xinjiang winery Wang Zhong, a six-hour drive south of capital city Urumqi, and followed up on the vintages she did at Pernod Ricard winery Helan Mountain in Ningxia in 2008 and 2009.  Carter, who has worked at Oakridge Wines [...]

Gamay-zing: Four Beaujolais Nouveau parties in Beijing and Shanghai

~ By Nicolas Carre That time of year is here again: the launch of Beaujolais Nouveau. For some, the parties are a novelty and a chance to raise a few glasses with friends. For others, they are seen as a tedious annual marketing event that promotes unsophisticated wine. My view is that this wine is [...]

Grand Croupier: Chinese Roulette and Bordeaux Wine in Wuhan

~ Long-time Grape Wall contributor Nicolas Carre provides these photos from a wine bar called Ruby Club in the city of Wuhan where you can gamble on Bordeaux — for fun, of course. No one wins the actual wines on the board although I’m sure the victors would happily accept a few free glasses from [...]

  • About Grape Wall of China

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    A nonprofit collaborative blog


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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


    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