Grape Wall of China

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

China Wine Press: Baijiu, smugglers, China vs Britain, wine auctions

All the wine world’s a stage and China keeps getting bigger roles. China Wine Press looks at media coverage of that drama, with each item preceded by an inane comment from me — just to keep things real. By J. Boyce ~ (So much for Lafite in my Chinese New Year stocking) Hurun Research Institute [...]

Pútáo people: Who’s Who in the China wine scene, part 1

~ By Jim Boyce Last year, I wrote a “who’s who in China” piece for magazine Wine Business International. There were ten categories — such as distributor, wine maker and sommelier — with a pick for each and mentions of other notable people. It wasn’t so much a “top ten” as it was a list [...]

Double up: China Wine & Spirits acquires DT Asia

By Jim Boyce China Wines & Spirits (CWS) acquired fellow distributor DT Asia last month and while the news is a bit dated I thought I would post it anyway. From the press release: “[The move] reinforces CWS position on the market, with a larger and stronger portfolio of Icon brands such as Champagne Deutz, [...]

Breathing room: China’s 1421 ‘traceable’ wine at Great Hall of The People

~ By Jim Boyce When Randy Lee Svendsen recently asked me to join a group of 12 at the Great Hall of The People to talk about the wine brand 1421, I figured I would be at one of dozens of tables. I wasn’t. There was only that one table in that huge hall — [...]

The Wine Republic to distribute Jia Bei Lan in China

~ By Jim Boyce China-based importer and distributor The Wine Republic has reached a deal to handle the brand Jia Bei Lan from Ningxia-based winery Helan Qing Xue, says company CEO Campbell Thompson. Demand has been growing for Jia Bei Lan, particularly for its 2009 vintage, after strong performances in several wine contests, including Decanter’s [...]

Penfolds Bin 620: Available in Beijing from this week at rmb6840 per bottle

By Jim Boyce When Penfolds chose Shanghai for the launch of its ”Bin 620″ Cabernet-Shiraz 2008 last month, the first wine under that label since 1966, it inspired plenty of comments, ranging from those who saw it as a respectful nod to the growing market for Australian fine wine in this country to those who [...]

Not-so-idle speculation: Wine, scarcity and China

By Jim Boyce Four people have asked me in the past few weeks for info about how to buy from ten to fifty cases of a specific wine. Is that wine from longstanding Bordeaux favorite Chateau Lafite Rothschild? No. Is it from new Burgundy darling DRC Romanee-Conti? No. How about the new and pricey Yao [...]

Bidder up: Notes from a Bordeaux-heavy wine auction in Beijing

~ By Jim Boyce I went to a wine auction in Beijing on Saturday because: a) fellow Grape Wall guy Nicolas Carre invited me, b) the venue, Zun Club near Workers Stadium, is across the street from my apartment, and c) I have not attended such a sale before. This one was organized by magazine [...]

North by Northwest China Wine Challenge: The Winners

~ Fourteen judges gathered in the Hilton Beijing last Saturday to try two dozen Chinese wines from the north and northwestern regions of the nation. To the best of my knowledge, the wines were made solely with grapes grown in China. The operations included Grace Vineyard and Chateau Rongzi from Shanxi, Jade Valley from Shaanxi, [...]

North by Northwest Challenge: The Judges

Fourteen judges tasted 24 wines during the North by Northwest China Wine Challenge held yesterday morning at the Hilton Beijing. The wines hailed from Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, and, at least for me, demonstrated the increasing dynamism of the domestic wine scene. The process of adding scores, deciphering handwriting and triple-checking [...]

Rare China wine dinners: 1968 Beerenauslese and 2010 Erguotou

~ Call me cocky but I’m claiming a recent wine dinner I attended was the first to include a 1968 Austrian Beerenauslese, an organic Israeli Petit Syrah and, according to the date stamp on its screw cap, a 2010 Chinese Erguotou. I tried this trio of beverages with three fellow Grape Wallers: the feast was [...]

DRC in the PRC: Rare Burgundy is top drop at Hong Kong auctions

- By Jim Boyce Given the number of billionaire wine aficionados who read this blog, I feel a post on the Hong Kong auction scene is long overdue. Two recent sales show Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée Conti to increasingly be the new darling while traditional sweetheart Chateau Lafite still performs well, particularly when it [...]

End of debate: Jamie Goode cuts blog post about Chinese wine

By Jim Boyce British wine writer Jamie Goode has deleted a blog post that concerned 1) Decanter magazine giving Jia Bei Lan Cabernet Red 2009 an “international trophy“, a first for a Chinese wine, and 2) a less than flattering evaluation of that same vintage by Victoria Moore in The Telegraph. I enjoyed Moore’s article (read it here), especially the details re [...]

China Wine Press: Jancis Robinson vs bankers, Aces Winery, more Lafite

All the wine world’s a stage and China keeps getting bigger roles. China Wine Press looks at media coverage of that drama, with each item preceded by an inane comment from me, just to keep things real. By J. Boyce – (I bet those investment bankers know how to multiply by ten.) China’s size makes [...]

Grace’s new twist on wine: Is China at its screw cap moment?

- By Jim Boyce There is a good chance Grace Vineyard will use screw caps for part of its upcoming vintage. This strikes me as significant given the stature of Grace, widely considered the success story of the millennium when it comes to quality wine in China, and the dominance of cork and plastic closures [...]

Hilton Beijing Wine Fair: Why wine importers should join

 - I talked to the Hilton Beijing today re the upcoming annual wine fair, set for November 12, and we will again do a giveaway contest. The call reminded me that I have yet to publish my post about the fair last year. You can find it below — this hopefully kick-starts me to finish [...]

China wine imports 2010: France spanks everyone (again)

By J. Boyce (I wrote this more than six weeks ago but am just getting around to posting it now. Hopefully is still relevant for some people.) Sometimes it feels like we have a new French paradox: Every year China Customs releases its data on bottled wine imports and France not only comes in first [...]

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  • About Grape Wall of China


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    A nonprofit blog by wine professionals and consumers.


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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


    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