Grape Wall of China

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

Customs vs customers: How much wine entering China actually gets drunk?

~ By Jim Boyce We have seen more than a decade of media stories about the phenomenal wine import growth in China. But rare are those that address whether the amounts of wine recorded by China Customs jibe with the amount of wine purchased — let alone drunk — by consumers. For example, bottled wine [...]

Bunches: What does this one vine say about China’s wine industry?

~ By Jim Boyce During a tour of some wine operations in Ningxia two years ago, Isak Pretorius of the Australian Wine Research Institute was surprised to find 43 grape bunches on this one vine. We saw plenty of heavily loaded vines during that trip, vines that elsewhere might only have a fraction as many [...]

The North by Northwest Challenge: In Search of China’s Best Wines

North by Northwest: In Search of China’s Best Wines Hilton Beijing, November 12, 2011 ~ The North by Northwest Challenge will be held at the Hilton Beijing on November 12 to taste some of the best wines made in China. The event will feature wines made solely with Chinese grapes and, as the title suggests, [...]

Decanter magazine and Jia Bei Lan 2009: Was it really Chinese wine?

~ By Jim Boyce How do we know? How do we really know it was Chinese wine? That is a question many people, particularly outside China, have asked since Jia Bei Lan 2009 became the first Chinese wine to receive an “international trophy” at the Decanter World Wine Awards. The award immediately had people asking [...]

China Wine Press: Scottish castles, Australian winery sales, Japanese manga

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 (China Daily forgot to ask what wine goes with haggis.) Ellie Buchdahl of China Daily [...]

Uncorked: Pudao Wines opens in Beijing, features Decanter awards line-up

By Jim Boyce Pudao Wines is marking its official opening on the north side of The Office Park in Beijing with a line-up of 23 wines that received recognition at Decanter magazine’s World Wine Awards and will be rotated into the enomatic machines over the next few weeks. There are 16 wines available at the [...]

From Xinjiang to Liaoning: Five years of Decanter awards for Chinese wines

By Jim Boyce Jia Bei Lan Cabernet Red 2009, from Ningxia-based operation Helan Qing Xue, has been a hot topic since it became the first Chinese wine to win an “international trophy” at the Decanter World Wine Awards. I’ll leave for another post what this means in terms of such magazines acting as “gate keepers“, [...]

Wine-derwall: 35 different Chinese wine bottles

~ A magazine asked me for a “wine” shot so I grabbed about three dozen Chinese bottles in my apartment, a.k.a. Chateau Double-B, arranged them on bookshelves, then clicked away. Needless to say from the photo quality above, the job required a professional. But I thought I’d share that one because if you are interested [...]

Carrefour Fall Wine Fair in Beijing: Free samples + BYOG

~ The fall edition of the biannual Beijing ritual known as the Carrefour Wine Fair is slated for October 14 to October 16 in the Shuangjing branch. The Friday night opening tends to be fun, with not only the chance to try free samples from among hundreds of wines (see catalog here) but also a [...]

Jia Bei Lan wine in Beijing: One bottle, 22 tasters

~ Lots of people have asked about Jia Bei Lan Cabernet Dry Red 2009 since it won a Decanter award a few weeks ago. As far as I know, there is no stock in Beijing, save a couple of bottles brought back last week after a trip I took to Helan Qing Xue, the producer [...]

Wine in China: Torres now handling Uruguay brand Pisano

- Torres China recently added Uruguay brand  Pisano to its wine portfolio. At the company’s recent Taste of the Nations event in Beijing, which includes ~150 wines from 13 countries, Torres listed five Pisano wines in its booklet. They included one white, Rio de los Pajaros Reserve Torrontes 2011 (rmb199), and four reds, Rio de los Pajaros [...]

China winery visit: Six photos from Helan Qing Xue in Ningxia

By Jim Boyce I accompanied Li Demei and Ch’ng Poh Tiong this week on a winery tour of Xinjiang and Ningxia, which included stops at Tuoling Winery close to Turpan in the former region and at Helan Qing Xue, Xi Xia King and Helan Mountain  not far from the capital, Yinchuan, in the latter region. [...]

Finding Jiabeilan: Award-winning Chinese wine yet to sign with distributor

Ever since English magazine Decanter validated* Chinese wine Jiabeilan by giving it an “international trophy“– the first for a wine from this country — at its World Wine Awards, I have received a steady stream of text messages, emails and phone calls not only about where to buy a bottle but also about how to get [...]

Wine-wine situation in Beijing: Torres and Tri-Nations tasting on Saturday

There will be plenty of popping and pouring on Saturday afternoon as two major wine tastings are on the schedule. Torres China will hold its fifth annual Taste of the Nations from 2 PM to 5 PM at Xu Xian Restaurant on Workers Stadium grounds. Tickets are rmb228 and include  free flow of 150 wines from [...]

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 [...]

Go west (far west): Cider maker wanted in China

- Someone from our sister city to the south (Shanghai) contacted me here in the north (Beijing) to see if I know of anyone who has experience making cider and would be interested in working on a small project in the west (the “far” west, he says). In terms of directions, that only leaves out the [...]

Wine Australia: Key staff leave for Treasury, Torres China

Tough semester for the China branch of Wine Australia and its A+ program as two key staff members — Summer Yan, involved since the start, and Reno Liu — have left. Willa Yang, in Shanghai, remains as head of the China office, while Lucy Anderson continues to direct Asia operations from Hong Kong. Liu will [...]

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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


    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