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 […]

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. […]

Red versus white: The grape grapple in China

By Huiqin Ma Chinese consumers buy nearly nine times more red wine than white wine. One common explanation is that the color red denotes good fortune in Chinese culture, thus making wine of that color more popular. I doubt this. After all, Chinese rice wine, Chinese liquor and most Chinese beer are clear or light-colored, […]

Translation: 英国葡萄酒大腕Jancis Robinson谈中国葡萄酒

By Ma Huiqin (The translation below first appeared here. The original interview in English is here.) 我的朋友Jim Boyce在3月5日采访了英国的葡萄酒大腕Jancis Robinson 原文见：http://www.grapewallofchina.com/page/3/，我的两个三年级的本科生赵丹和刘茜做了翻译，我对文稿进行远不完美的审阅和校对，我想这样的交流有利于我们跨过语言的障碍，倾听不同的声音。 昨晚，我在北京港澳中心瑞士酒店的Flow休闲吧对来自英国的著名葡萄酒作家简妮丝·罗宾逊（Jancis Robinson）进行了短暂的访谈。罗宾逊女士拥有一个广受欢迎的葡萄酒网站（Web site），她还为《金融时报》每周撰写一篇专栏，负责《牛津葡萄酒词典》的编辑工作，并且和另一位世界知名的葡萄酒作家休·约翰逊合作撰写了《世界葡萄酒大全》一书。 问：在本次访问中国期间，您在葡萄酒领域发现了什么变化吗？ 答：这是我第三次来中国，三次访问分别在2002、2003和今年。我有点失望，因为在我看来中国葡萄酒的品质并没有进一步的提高。酒在风格上仍是波尔多一般葡萄酒的稀释版，而这种类型的酒是目前世界上最难卖的。 上海米氏餐厅Marcus Ford和他的朋友组织了一场有15款红葡萄酒的盲品。我想说的是它们都不是能让我眼前特别一亮的葡萄酒，尽管有三四个还算相当不错。出于我对中国人的工作态度和决心的信任，我曾经希望，这些酒会展示出最近五年来的进步，但结果并非如我所期待。 问：您去过中国的哪些葡萄酒产区，它们是否与您的预想相同？ 答：我2003年去过新天和几个河北的酒厂，昨天去了怡园。当然，西部地区的地形是完全不同的。 从规模上来说——新天有大面积的葡萄园，那些农户的葡萄园看起来不是为农民所有，而是归新天所有，而怡园酒庄周边有农民承包的土地。 问：你对中国葡萄酒和所使用的酿酒葡萄品种的总体印象是什么？ 答：说到葡萄品种，除了赤霞珠和美乐你很难尝到其它的。说实在的，我想不出还有哪个国家像这样拥有如此广大的葡萄栽培面积，却只种植了极少的品种。 最常见的葡萄酒的风格，干瘦干瘦的，红色而单宁感强，是最糟糕的配中国菜的酒。 问：您会给初涉葡萄酒的中国人什么样的建议？ 答：我想说的是不要听信广告，而应该尝试多种不同风格的葡萄酒。根据你所吃的食物，可以尝试一款果香浓郁的白葡萄酒，甚至一款果香饱满的红葡萄酒。不要认为葡萄酒一定得是赤霞珠或者美乐品种。鲁信博士牌雷司令（美夏代理）的亲和性很好。不少业内人士告诉我，如果拿这款酒送人，人们会很喜欢。 笔记：我随身带了2003水晶干白和2005玫瑰蜜各一瓶，这两款酒都是云南红的产品，而且都是用杂交葡萄品种酿制的。鲁宾逊快评如下：玫瑰蜜配菜可能有一点偏甜，但是它在入门级的酒中是非常棒的。水晶干白的香气对我而言实在是太不熟悉了，非欧洲种葡萄的特点非常突出。 有关简妮丝·罗宾逊关于中国的更多信息，请参见‘中国的葡萄栽培与酿酒’The vinification of China和‘我的中国冒险 II’ My Chinese adventures – Part II。《城市周报快递》This City Weekend post包括一个博客空间以及对罗宾逊女士最近在上海国际文学节上讲话的记录。 感谢港澳中心瑞士酒店提供品酒的玻璃杯（顺便提一下，我发现在每周二、三、四下午5:30到7:3在Flow休闲酒吧会有买一增一特别的活动。）访谈结束后，我与酒店的 Dominik Hager 以及Nathan Wang […]

Wine education in China – campus edition

By Huiqin Ma Campbell Thompson of The Wine Republic was a recent guest lecturer in my Wine Culture and Appreciation course at China Agricultural University, on the outskirts of Beijing near the Summer Palace. He presented on China’s wine market to about 120 students from universities throughout the city. None of the students are in […]

Uncorking nine Chinese wines in Beijing / 四个外国人对9款中国葡萄酒的品评

By Ma Huiqin Here is a Chinese translation of the article “Taste test: Uncorking nine Chinese wines in Beijing“, which saw Lawrence Osborne and James Fallows as well as fellow contributors Campbell Thompson and Jim Boyce try local vino. It first appeared on my personal blog. 四个外国人对9款中国葡萄酒的品评 爱酒的我们常常会品尝葡萄酒，写下自己的评语，也会看葡萄酒专栏作家对葡萄酒的品评。外国人对中国葡萄酒的品尝总体上非常有限，有些人是抱着先入为主的看法对中国葡萄酒持不懈一顾的态度，即使有偶尔的品尝也是一两个出名的酒园而已。 Jim Boyce是我遇到过的对中国葡萄酒持非常开放态度的外国人，他和他的几个朋友前些天搞了一些小小的中国葡萄酒的品尝活动，并把这次活动记录在他的博客上。古话讲：开卷有益，我想有不少葡萄酒消费者和业界的同仁愿意了解一下这些来自国外的葡萄酒爱好者和专业人士是如何评价这些我们常见或不常见的葡萄酒，从另一个角度，听听不同的声音。 参加品酒的四个人是来自纽约的葡萄酒记者Lawrence Osborne、太平洋月刊的记者James Fallows，曾任ASC精品葡萄酒市场总监的Campbell Thompson和Jim本人。 因为时间的关系，我无法把Jim写得美丽而精确的英文完美地翻译给读者，尽管在我阅读他的文字的时候，得到了极大的享受，再一次感受语言的美好。有兴趣的读者请访问他的博客http://www.grapewallofchina.com/ […]

Travel with wine, trouble with wine

By Huiqin Ma My friend and wine maker Charles was stopped at Yantai airport in Shandong Province last week. The reason: security found more than two bottles of wine in his check-in luggage. He had to leave numerous bottles of expensive wine behind, including a special one meant for me! Charles asked if there is […]

No-carb diet? Chinese eating habits and the impact on wine sales

By Huiqin Ma I attended a grape workshop in Tianjin in November that drew many international experts. Like most such academic meetings, the workshop involved field visits and city tours. Afterwards, I steered a world-famous scientist away from a typical hotel buffet and to a local breakfast spot. His happy conclusion after eating food such […]

Taste and sensibility: the wine threshold in China

- By Huiqin Ma For most foreigners, it is difficult to understand why the taste of chou doufu (fermented bean curd) and pi dan (“thousand-year-old egg“) are so attractive to many Chinese. It’s the flip side of Chinese finding it hard to understand why many foreigners enjoy blue cheese. People need more experience with some foods and drinks […]

An unhealthy marriage: The gap between grape growers and wine consumption

- By Huiqin Ma A French filmmaker made a documentary about the Sino-French Demonstration Farm just outside of Beijing. He showed how wines were taken to the farmers after the harvest so they and the winery staff could taste them together. The scenes were very warming. However, I cannot help but wonder whether, except for […]

Grape Wall of China 2.0: Huiqin Ma

Grape Wall of China will soon begin including contributions from people involved in the Greater China wine scene as academics, winemakers, distributors, educators or consumers. To kick things off, I will post a profile each day. (For more China wine info, join the Grape Wall of China group on Facebook and/or sign up for my […]