Press

  • Wine Searcher (Jim Boyce)

    Going Viral: Covid Saves Chinese Wine

    The human toll and economic cost of Covid-19 has been staggering, including for the global wine trade. But it has also meant opportunity for some, with China's struggling producers among them. Tougher entry for importers, home-court advantage for local producers and rising pride in domestic brands have created a sense this is China's moment to seize.

  • Forbes (Liz Thach)

    The Marselan Wine Grape Gaining Popularity In Bordeaux, China And Napa Valley

    China has even established International Marselan Day, organized by Beijing-based wine writer, Jim Boyce. For this event Boyce hosted what could be the largest Marselan tasting in the world to date, with 30 different bottles of Marselan.

  • The Drinks Business (Elizabeth Gabay)

    Under the radar: Marselan’s past, present and best producers

    In 2018, Chinese Marselan’s potential was further acknowledged by five medals at an Asian wine-tasting competition, and by the hashtag #internationalmarselanday, created in April 2018 by China-based wine writer Jim Boyce.

  • That's China (Joshua Cawthorpe)

    How China’s Baijiu is Entering a New Era of Innovation

    ...his first encounter with baijiu happened earlier in 1999 when he traveled to Inner Mongolia and spent a few nights in a yurt. He noticed a couple of security guards laughing and sending explosions of baijiu up from the fire pit. Naturally, they offered Boyce a toast and he recounts thinking, “If it explodes into flame on a fire, then it’s probably going to start a nice fire in my belly.” Boyce would later go on to start World Baijiu Day (WBD) in 2015 – a self-described passion project that’s slowly gaining steam. WBD takes place on August 9 because of the phonetic similarity of eight-nine (ba jiu) in Mandarin to baijiu. The events, mostly hosted in bars, include special Chinese food offerings and creative twists like baijiu chocolates being served alongside tasting flights and baijiu cocktails.

  • South China Morning Post (Amanda Lee & Su-Lin Tan)

    China-Australia relations: Penfolds wine weathered counterfeits and trademark disputes since 1995, but now faces toughest test yet in Chinese market

    “This situation with Australian wine is particularly about Penfolds, because Penfolds is the symbol of Australian wine and it represents the most value,” Boyce said. “Penfolds makes up a huge part of the Australian wine market here. It’s really Penfolds and then everybody else. Their share is the size of a country in terms of value.” The test of Penfolds’ resilience amid the anti-dumping headwinds will come when current stock levels at pre-duty prices in China deplete. Boyce says it appears unlikely Chinese consumers will be willing to pay up to three times more for the label although it will also be very difficult to replace the much-loved product with another one from another country. “There is also another issue of whether consumers are willing to drink Penfolds or Australian wine publicly, especially if the relationship gets worse,” he said.

  • Jancis Robinson (Richard Hemming)

    Who’s writing about wine in China?

    Jim Boyce, already well known on these pages, has been writing about wine from his home in Beijing since 2007, although he likes to distance himself from the established wine trade and clearly relishes his role as an outsider, providing commentary on the wine world through his Grape Wall of China website and newsletter. Eschewing any wine certification or qualifications, he instead classifies himself as consumerist, happy to needle an industry that he sees as self-important and insular, such as by reporting on the wine trade's relative insignificance in China, for example.

  • SBS Australia (Patrick Fok)

    The trade spat continues, but China has developed a real taste for Australian wines

    Jim Boyce is founder of wine blog The Grape Wall of China and has closely followed the Chinese wine industry for more than a decade. He says the conditions are so severe in some regions that producers need to bury the vines every autumn and then dig them all back up again in spring. “This can be 30 per cent of the budget and it’s getting more expensive because in a lot of those areas of China it’s getting harder and harder to find labour. There’s competition with other agricultural crops for that kind of seasonal labour,” he said.

  • Sampan (Richard Auffrey)

    Celebrate ‘World Baijiu Day’

    Since 2015, “World Baijiu Day” has been held annually on Aug. 9, a holiday intended to raise awareness of baijiu. This holiday was created and organized by Jim Boyce, who runs the blog Grape Wall of China (http://www.grapewallofchina.com). Baijiu events are held all over the world and have been previously held in Boston and Cambridge.

  • The World of Chinese (Emily Conrad)

    Grape Expectations

    Jim Boyce, a blogger on Chinese liquors, agrees that reputation is one of the biggest challenges for “Made in China” wines moving forward. “For a lot of Chinese consumers, their view on Chinese wines is based on probably some cheap, bad wine that they tasted in college,” he comments.

  • Wine Searcher (Jim Boyce)

    French Wine Fights Back in China

    As trade war clouds gather, France's winemakers are looking to revive an old love affair.

  • Independent (Amy Qin)

    Why the Rothschilds have opened a winery in China to produce pricey Lafite wine

    The 2017 wine is the culmination of a project that began 10 years ago, when the Lafite brand was at the peak of its popularity in China. “Lafite” has been used in the names of Chinese apartment complexes and even barbecue restaurants, says Jim Boyce, founder of Grape Wall of China, an English-language blog about Chinese wine. “It’s attached to the idea of the quality of a lifestyle,” Boyce says. But a number of high-end Chinese wines have emerged in the last decade, including Legacy Peak in Ningxia and Ao Yun, made from grapes grown in the Tibetan foothills and owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group. “The timing feels weird to me,” Boyce says of the Long Dai launch. “It feels like part of a trend that’s already had its moment.”

  • New York Times (Amy Qin)

    A French Wine From China? This $300 Bottle Is the Real Thing

    The 2017 wine is the culmination of a project that began 10 years ago, when the Lafite brand was at the peak of its popularity in China. “Lafite” has been used in the names of Chinese apartment complexes and even barbecue restaurants, said Jim Boyce, founder of Grape Wall of China, an English-language blog about Chinese wine.

  • Meininger's Wine Business International (Jim Boyce)

    The natural wine craze hits China

    Natural wine is having a moment in China, with Crush, held in late September, the biggest in a growing stream of tastings, dinners and pop-ups, especially during the past year. While the scene is still small, it is tapping a younger consumer niche focused on exploring wine rather than just buying the default status-oriented brands. Natural wine also appeals to concerns about food safety and desires to experience new wine styles.

  • Netflix (Season 2 of the 'Rotten' Series)

    Reign of Terroir

    Sign up for the Grape Wall newsletter here. Follow Grape Wall on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And see my sibling sites World Marselan Day, World ...

  • China Daily (Alywin Chew)

    Chinese spirits, wines making a splash in overseas markets

    "I'm impressed by the rising quality of local wines. A dozen years ago, people were asking if there was any good wine made in China, because quality brands were few and far between. Then about a half-dozen years ago, we started to hear more people say, 'What Chinese wine is the best?', because we could find dozens of decent labels," says Beijing-based industry expert Jim Boyce.


Sign up for the Grape Wall newsletter here. Follow Grape Wall on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And see my sibling sites World Marselan DayWorld Baijiu Day and Beijing Boyce. Grape Wall has no advertisers, so if you find the content useful, please help cover the costs via PayPal, WeChat or Alipay. Contact Grape Wall via grapewallofchina (at) gmail.com.