Grape Wall of China

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

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 enjoy [...]

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. The [...]

Pour your way to victory: Seeking China’s best sommelier

Koen Masschelein of Maison Boulud informs that the International Sommelier Association (ASI), organizers of the “Best Sommelier in the World Competition”, will hold its first contest in China. The initial selection rounds will be held in Beijing and Shanghai on April 28, with the top six candidates going to a final round on May 31. [...]

Grape Wall Challenge: Top ten red wines in China under RMB100

On March 13, a dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 23 red wines that retail for less than RMB100 in China (see gallery). The experts rated each out of 20 points, while the consumers had four choices – “love it“, “like it“, “dislike it” or “hate [...]

Wine Word: Gelipu head Danny Wu

Danny Wu is head of GELIPU (GLP), a Beijing-based company that distributes Australian wines and is involved in a retail outlet. I asked him about the strategy of focusing on wines from a single country, the consumer trends he sees, and more.
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GELIPU is focused on Australian wines. What are the pros and cons of this [...]

Vintage tasting: City Weekend surveys Beijing’s wine scene… in 1998

By Jim Boyce

A few weeks ago, I popped into Jenny Lou’s gourmet shop near Chaoyang Park and counted around 100 different sparkling wines. One hundred! Choice in Beijing, in terms of shops, tastings, and restaurant, bar, and hotel wine lists, is incredibly diverse when compared to a few years back.
Case in point: this 1998 City [...]

Grape finds: Lufthansa Centre

I popped into the basement supermarket of the Lufthansa Center in Beijing and found a bonanza of booze. In addition to solid imported wine, vodka, gin, sake and whisky selections, the latter including the rarely found (in Beijing) Woodford Reserve Bourbon (561 kuai), it also offered a decent selection of Chinese wines.
Alongside the Great Wall, [...]

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 Financial Times [...]

Media: “Shanxi takes on wine world”

Thanks to GS for forwarding a South China Morning Post article about China’s Grace Vineyard – Shanxi takes on wine world – by Mark Graham (registration required). I think these two paragraphs sum things up:
In less than five years, Grace Vineyard, located in out-of-the-way Shanxi province has not only turned into a profitable venture, it also is producing [...]

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 [...]

Say Grace: The search for seven good Chinese wines (part 1)

Note: I will post the notes from the second blind tasting shortly.

Action scene from my at-home blind tasting of Chinese wines (more pics below)
I’ve received numerous emails from people who are either: 1) curious about Chinese wine but unsure where to start, or 2) cynical about Chinese wine after a bad experience or two with [...]

  • 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