Grape Press: Chinese company buys Bordeaux winery

- By Jim Boyce According to AFP, it appears Longhai International Trading Company is the first Chinese firm to purchase a Bordeaux winery. The deal, announced Tuesday, to buy the 60-hectare chateau for an undisclosed sum, which was signed January 24, looks to be the first ever French wine estate purchase by Chinese buyers. “It [...]

Timeout to publish wine guide

Timeout magazine will publish a wine guide. Gabe Suk, who writes the wine column for the magazine’s Beijing edition, is heading up the project. Expect also to see a number of wine books appearing in the market, including several bilingual (English / Chinese) one as well as some Web sites focused on wine. More on these [...]

Grace (again): Face, FT, and feedback on five wines

I spotted yet another place selling Grace wines in Beijing – upscale Face has the entry-level Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon for 220 per bottle (about four times retail) and the Tasya’s Reserve (I think it was the Cabernet Sauvignon) for 350 kuai. Face also has Catai Chardonnay at 220 per bottle. Praise from England as the most recent [...]

Grace under pressure: Q&A with winery CEO Judy Leissner

Yesterday, I emailed Grace Vineyard President Judy Leissner with five quick queries and the answers were back faster than it takes for a bottle of wine to breath. I’ve been a Grace fan since trying the Cabernet Sauvignon at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Beijing last fall. It fared well in my first blind tasting [...]

Interview: Don St. Pierre Jr, ASC Fine Wines

ASC Fine Wines‘ Don St. Pierre Jr joins Robert Parker, Richard Sands, Miguel Torres and other global wine players in Decanter magazine’s “2007 Power List.” St. Pierre, who established ASC with his father Don Sr 11 years ago, ranks number 37 on the list of those deemed to have the greatest impact on what people are and will be drinking. He’s [...]