Grape Wall of China

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

Frenzy on the sales floor: Acker says Hong Kong wine auction sets 115 world records

By Jim Boyce Hong Kong had a super humungous wine auction last weekend if the press release from the organizer — Acker Merral & Conduit — is any indication. It states that the tw0-day sale broke 115 world records – pretty much everything but Usain’s Bolt mark in the 100 meters, it seems. But you [...]

Squeezed dry? California Grapes in Beijing looks awfully empty tonight

By Jim Boyce Given these photos, it looks like California Grapes in Sanlitun Soho is a) preparing for renovations less than six months after opening, b) in need of a clean up after a bash so big most of the wine got guzzled and the ensuing chaos saw the posters stripped from the walls and [...]

China Bulk Wine Imports: Spain vs Chile, Volume vs Value in 2012 Customs Stats

By Jim Boyce Chile and Spain dominated the bulk wine sector in China in 2012. Recentlyreleased Customs stats show the pair held 69 percent of the market by volume and 64 percent by value, with Italy, France and Australia rounding out the top five although all about five laps behind. A comparison of the big [...]

China Wine Imports Cool: Sobering Customs Stats for 2012 Now Out

By Jim Boyce Growing by hops and jumps instead of leaps and bounds. That might best describe the wine import situation in China during the past year. Customs stats for 2012 show wine imports increased at a far slower pace than at any other time in recent years. Those expecting annual growth of 50 percent [...]

New deal: Up to 25 shops in China for Canadian winery Pilliterri

By Jim Boyce Dan Dakin of the St. Catherines Standard reports that up to 25 shops dedicated to Canadian winery Pilliterri Estates will open in China as part of a recent deal: As part of a Premier Dalton McGuinty-led trade mission to China last week, the Niagara-on-the-Lake company signed an agreement with Canbest International Trading [...]

Pre-ProWein: China focus of Meininger’s one-day wine conference in Germany

~ By Jim Boyce ProWein is a massive annual German wine show with huge tents, oodles of oom-pah-pah bands and voluptuous leiderhosen-clad servers walking about with fistfuls of dangerously full glasses. Actually, to be honest, I haven’t been to this event, and I might be confusing it with Oktoberfest, but what is important to this [...]

Fifty kuai, all you can try: 60-bottle tasting by ‘cool climate’ importer Wine Republic

By Jim Boyce If you didn’t make it to the last Wine Republic mini-portfolio tasting / guzzle fest — at Switch! in Beijing last month — you get a second chance today. This importer / distributor will have more than 60 wines available for sampling at Flamme, with all bottles available at half price, according [...]

Oh, great: Acker’s Hong Kong auction has lots from mystery men, Dujac, Roulot

By Jim Boyce The upcoming Acker Merrall & Condit wine auction in Hong Kong — the year’s first for the company — should be pretty, um, great if the press release is any indication. “Great”, or its derivatives, is used twenty-nine times (29!) in that missive. Not to be picky, but does anyone at Acker [...]

Boogie night: Party like a Hong Kong wine distributor

~ By Jim Boyce When I visited Hong Kong in November, I went to the fortieth birthday party of Patricio de la Fuente-Saez, head of wine importer and distributor Links Concept. I was supposed to spend the night preparing for a speech the next day but I couldn’t resist the combination of him and a [...]

Chill out: What happens if wine freezes, plus seven more atypical questions

~ By Jim Boyce China has bundled up for its coldest five-week spell in more than thirty years, according to this AP story. Beijing has been no exception, with friends getting out the long johns, donning extra scarves or just staying home. Some call the cold unbearable. I prefer to describe it as bracing. It [...]

Bottle talk: Why do wine import stickers cover back labels in China?

By Jim Boyce Why does the import sticker always cover the back label? This is a common pet peeve of imported wine buyers in China. They pick up a bottle, check the back and see an import sticker that covers the label and makes it impossible to read more about the wine. Countless times I [...]

RVF Beijing ‘Salon’: On Nubes, 1421, Helan Mountain, Silver Heights, Helan Qing Xue

By Jim Boyce While my acquaintances described the recent La Revue du Vin de France ‘Beijing Salon’ as having too few vendors (~20 exhibitors at ~35 tables) and too much heat (notes of pit sweat?), I took a glass half-full approach and figured that a) I had a shot at actually trying all of the [...]

Wines under rmb50 in China: Helan Mountain Dry Red 2008

By Jim Boyce Last year I organized a contest called North by Northwest and included a bottle of Helan Mountain Dry Red 2008 in a flight of six Chinese wines priced under rmb150. That flightincluded wines by Grace Vineyard from Shanxi, 1421 from Xinjiang and Hansen from Inner Mongolia. The Helan Mountain Dry Red was [...]

Beyond Pisco: China number two export market for Peru wines

By Jim Boyce One fun thing about living in Beijing is witnessing the ever-widening scope of wines available in the market. True, the “big six” — France, Australia, Spain, Chile, Italy and the United States — account for ~90 percent of bottled imports And sources like Germany, Argentina and New Zealand account for a good [...]

British Bubbly in Beijing: New Year’s Eve with Chapel Down Pinot Reserve

By Jim Boyce English sparkling wine maker Chapel Down last appeared on this blog due to its presence ringside at White Collar Boxing in Beijing. This time it again pops up on a special occasion: we opened a bottle of Pinot Reserve 2006 at the New Year’s Eve party at Switch! restaurant last night. As [...]

Wines under 元100 in China: Grace Vineyard Chardonnay 2010

By Jim Boyce While Grace Vineyard Chardonnay 2010 did not make the top four in our recent Grape Wall Challenge, it did get good scores from most of the seven consumers turned judges on the white wine panel. Six judges either “liked it” (five) or “loved it” (one), with one dissenter submitting a “didn’t like [...]

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