Monthly Archives: June 2008

Tasting time: Beijing

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Upcoming Beijing wine-related events

Thursday, June 26, LAN, 7 PM, RMB280
Lafite wine from France, Chile, Argentina; RSVP with Jennifer Zhang at 6562-1800, x102 / jennifer.zhang@summergate.com.

Thursday, June 26, 7-8:30 PM, Bentos & Berries (Kerry Centre), free
South African wine tasting, with 8 wines, 4 estates, by Top Cellar; RSVP: 13521-434-994, marketing@topcellar.com.cn or here.

Friday, June 27, 7-9 PM, Cellar Le Pinot, RMB50
Rose wine tasting, with wine from 5 countries; to RSVP or for info, contact Joy Zhou at zhoumeixing@lepinot.com.

Friday, June 27, 6:30 PM, Sequoia Cafe (Guanghua Lu), RMB100
Merlot tasting, with 5 wines from 4 countries; RSVP with Frank at 13701-178-073.

Saturday, June 28, 6:30 PM, Maison Boulod (Legation Quarter), RMB4888
Haut-Brion / La Mission Haut-Brion dinner, with 7 wines, by ASC; with wineries’ owner Prince Robert of Luxembourg, GM / winemaker Jean-Philippe Delmas, and, for restaurant opening, chef Daniel Boulud; RSVP with Helen Lu at helenlu@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803.

Monday, June 30, 1:30-5 PM, Hilton Beijing, RSVP – see below
French Wine Trade Show, by Sopexa; with wines from 10 French operations seeking importer links; RSVP with Adele Jia at adele.jia@sopexa.com.cn or 6588-8675/77. Similar events will be held in Shanghai on July 1 (RSVP: Ling Wang at Ling.wang@sopexa.com.cn) and Shenzhen on July 3 (RSVP: Guangdong@sopexa.com.cn).

Thursday, July 10, 7-8.30 PM, Amigo (Central Park), free
Rose and white wine tasting, by Top Cellar; RSVP at 13521-434-994 or marketing@topcellar.com.cn.

July 12, Aria, RMB1888
Wine dinner with critic Robert Joseph, with Chateau Leoville Le Case wines (2005, 1993, 1983, 1975), by Jebsen; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com.

August 5-7 Blu Lobster, RMB2888 + 15%
“Creative cuisine” event with Pascal Barbot and Christophe Rohat of L’Astrance and Brian McKenna of Blu Lobster. More details to come.

Note: If you intend to attend any of the above events, it is best to confirm the details with the venue ahead of time. To get a wine event listed, send event info, preferably in text format, to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.

Wine word – Penfolds Chief Wine Maker Peter Gago

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By Jim Boyce

As well as launching a new bottle sticker for Penfolds wines on May 22, chief wine maker Peter Gago sat down for lunch and an afternoon talk organized by ASC for about a dozen people in Beijing. Here are seven topics on which he touched:

Chinese wines: “I have tasted wines from Grace and the odd vineyard here and there. This is a huge country with a huge range of micro-climates and a huge range of soils,” he says. “[The key is to] go slowly, start small and grow big, experiment, and use a little bit of guts. No guts, no glory.”

Screw caps: “We are not moving toward screw cap – we have always used it for whites, at least since the 1970s, and we have been slowly introducing it for reds.” The winery is also looking at other closures, including glass, he says.

Corks: “With Grange and some other wines it’s not an issue of just 5, 10, 15, 20 years, but of 10, 20, 30, 40, even 50 years. We want to see that a closure definitely lasts the distance. Cork does, but it has problems. With the 1970s screw caps [on white wine], there is no problem. But with red wine, it’s a question mark – perhaps not for short- to medium-term cellaring, but for the longer term.

Wine making at Penfolds: “I want Penfolds to be the largest boutique winery, which means having the whole mindset of handcrafting where we can. We still make wines from single vineyards and from single viticultural areas.”

Penfolds’ oldest vintages: “I was in London, down in the cellars of Buckingham Palace, and there was security everywhere,” he says about his search for Penfolds wine in the nineteenth century. He did find some Penfolds, but “not the really, really old ones”, though he spotted one 1660 bottle of wine.

Why he likes Koonunga Hills wine: The quality-price ration: “It’s nice when you now you don’t have to sell the car or house to buy it.”

On health: He says Penfolds wine was originally promoted for “medicinal purposes.” And now? “We’ve never stopped saying that it’s good for you.”

(Photo: AY)

Save your fen: Dinners with Daniel Boulud, Robert Joseph, Pascal Barbot, and more

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By Jim Boyce

Look under the bed, search the wardrobe and dig behind the sofa cushions because you might need every fen you have for these upcoming dinners in Beijing.

June 28 (RMB4888)
Maison Boulod in The Legation Quarter will mark its grand opening with an Haut-Brion wine dinner by ASC. Guests will include winery owner Prince Robert of Luxembourg, GM and winemaker Jean-Philippe Delmas, and chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud. To RSVP, contact Helen Lu at helenlu@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803.

July 12 (RMB1888)
China World Hotel’s Aria will hold a wine dinner with wine critic Robert Joseph, whose trip to Beijing will be hosted by Jebsen. The dinner will include four vintages of Chateau Leoville Le Case (2005, 1993, 1983, 1975). To RSVP, contact Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com

August 5-7 (RMB2888 + 15%)
Pascal Barbot and Christophe Rohat of L’Astrance will join Brian McKenna of the Shangri-La Hotel’s Blu Lobster and indulge in three days of “creative cuisine.” I’ll have more details on this one soon.

Tasting time: Beijing

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By Jim Boyce

Upcoming Beijing wine-related events

Thursday, June 19, 7-10:30 PM, Grand Hyatt Beijing, inquire re price
Chateau Margaux dinner, with owner Corinne Mentzelopoulos; 5 wines, limited to 15 seats; by Aussino World Wines; Info / RSVP with Sophia Wang at 6461-2072, x128.

Thursday, June 19, 7:30 PM, Bookworm, RMB180
Australia wine tasting, with 6 wines, by The Wine Republic; RSVP with Jenny at bookwormjenny@gmail.com / 6586-9507.

Friday, June 20, 7 PM, Les Millesimes (Jianwai Soho), RMB198
Cheese and wine tastings, with 20 cheeses, 2 wines; by Les Millesimes Wine Club; RSVP with Cyril at 13601-018-093 (French speakers) or Ekatatrina at 13552-380-948 (English, Chinese, Russian speakers).

Saturday, June 21, 7 PM, Brasserie Flo, RMB488
Skalli Mediterranean wine dinner, with 6 wines presented by Robert Skalli; by ASC; RSVP with Helen Lu at helenlu@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803.

Thursday, June 26, LAN, 7 PM, RMB280
Lafite wines from France, Chile and Argentina; RSVP with Jennifer Zhang at 6562-1800, x102 / jennifer.zhang@summergate.com.

Thursday, June 26, 7-8:30 PM, Bento & Berries (Kerry Centre Hotel), free
South African wine tasting, by Top Cellar; RSVP at 13521-434-994 or marketing@topcellar.com.cn.

Thursday, June 26, 7-8:30 PM, Bentos & Berries (Kerry Centre), free
South African wine tasting, with 8 wines from 4 estates, by Top Cellar; RSVP at 13521-434-994 or marketing@topcellar.com.cn, or here

Friday, June 27, 7-9 PM, Cellar Le Pinot, RMB50
Rose wine tasting, with wine from 5 countries; to RSVP or for info, contact Joy Zhou at zhoumeixing@lepinot.com.

Saturday, June 28, 6:30 PM, Maison Boulud (Legation Quarter), RMB4888
Haut-Brion / La Mission Haut-Brion wine dinner, with 7 wines, by ASC; with wineries’ owner Prince Robert of Luxembourg, GM / winemaker Jean-Philippe Delmas, and, for restaurant opening, chef Daniel Boulud; RSVP with Helen Lu at helenlu@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803.

Thursday, July 10, 7-8.30 PM, Amigo (Central Park), free
Rose and white wine tasting, by Top Cellar; RSVP at 13521-434-994 or marketing@topcellar.com.cn.

Note: If you intend to attend any of the above events, it is best to confirm the details with the venue ahead of time. To get a wine event listed, send event info, preferably in text format, to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.

Translation: Latour lunch – 拉图午餐会：酒庄总经理弗雷德里克•恩杰尔

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By Ma Huiqin

This is a translation of a post originally in English – Latour lunch: Chateau GM Frederic Engerer.

4月26日我与六位中国葡萄酒作家一起同拉图酒庄的总经理弗雷德里克•恩杰尔共进了午餐。本次活动是由ASC精品葡萄酒公司在北京的凯悦饭店中国餐厅组织的。本次活动我们品尝了拉图酒庄1995和2001年份的酒，搭配包括北京烤鸭在内的中国菜，交流拉图酒庄的有关情况以及中国葡萄酒产业的宏观途径。我问了他三件事。

您品尝过中国葡萄酒吗？
 他说：很遗憾，还没有尝试过。

您如何看待中国对波尔多葡萄酒市场的影响不断增加？
 他说一些像中国这样的一些国家正在改变着拉图酒庄消费者的构成：“这将是一群不同的消费者。”

“我们没法对我们的葡萄酒价钱大涨三倍负责任。”他补充说到，“这件事超出了我们的掌控范围。我们的目标就是每年提供最好的葡萄酒。”

您对螺旋盖的看法以及拉图酒庄是否试验过螺旋盖？
 他对螺旋盖反应强烈。他提到螺旋盖时用了“人造的（artificial）”一词，而且质疑用上螺旋盖好酒其陈年的结果究竟如何。

“如果你酿的酒是为了在出厂后18个月之内就被喝掉的产品，螺旋盖相当不错。”他说，但是用软木塞更有利于贮存。“这不是传统与现代之间的较量。人们都理解我们的葡萄酒是可以存放50年的。”

他没有为拉图酒庄是否曾经尝试过使用螺旋盖提供线索。

他说“我们的目标是使用更好的软木塞。一旦使用了螺旋盖，葡萄酒就变成另一种东西了。别人管它叫葡萄酒，但我们不这样认为。”，并显示出了他对螺旋塞鼓吹者的不快。

他指着我们喝的葡萄酒问：“你们愿意让这些葡萄酒接触到人造材料吗？”

当被问到玻璃密封塞的时候，他说拉图酒庄在2000年份的葡萄酒上使用过一些，并将在2010年对这些酒进行品尝。他补充说拉图酒庄曾经使用过玻璃密封塞的年份分别是：十九世纪二十年代、十九世纪三十年代和十九世纪四十年代。

说到菜肴与葡萄酒的搭配，前面的几道菜都太辣了，特别是那些起源于中国西南部的菜肴，因此后面的菜我们就减少了辣的因素，北京烤鸭算是个尚可的搭配。和一位波尔多的重量级人物进行交流，同时尝试食物与葡萄酒的新搭配更增加了乐趣。

注：我们当天品尝葡萄酒分别为：Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac, 2001; Chateau Latour Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 2001; and Chateau Latour Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 1995.

（赵丹、刘茜译，马会勤审校）

Pandas and koalas: Will a Chinese firm snap up a Foster’s winery?

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By Jim Boyce

Chinese winery Great Wall buys Australian producer Penfolds. It creates South Wall Shiraz to sell alongside globe-trotting Penfolds brand Grange. The label features pandas and koalas hugging. That was this year’s April fool’s joke on the blog (kudos to reader PA).

But this scenario, at least the part about a Chinese firm buying an Australian-owned winery, goes from the “kidding around” to the “remotely possible” file following the resignation of Trevor O’Hoy as Foster’s CEO. States The Australian, Foster’s Chairman David Crawford “said he would head a review of the wine division that could result in assets sales“, with those assets including wineries such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Rosemount and Beringer.

It might seem unlikely that a Chinese firm would scoop up one of Foster’s major wineries. Then again, the past year has been a roller-coaster ride for the domestic wine scene, with Hong Kong dropping its wine tax, a Chinese company snapping up a French chateau, statistics showing more wine than ever is pouring into the country, and a Customs investigation into wine importers, to name a few events. On top of this, China is flush with cash – don’t forget China Investment Corp., which is neck deep in billions of dollars.

“While most commentators will look at groups like Constellation and so on as possible buyers of one or more of the Foster’s wineries, Chinese wine groups could be interested,” Grape Wall contributor Campbell Thompson said when I chatted with him last week. “Such a deal could make sense because Chinese wine groups are cashed up and could afford it, and they want the brands, history, experience and so on of a winery like Penfolds,” added Thompson, who manages The Wine Republic.

Perhaps the recent record-breaking wine auction Hong Kong is a sign of bidding and buying to come on a much bigger scale.

Tag team: Penfolds, ASC launch bottle sticker

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By Jim Boyce

Peter Gago, chief wine maker at Penfolds, visited Beijing on May 22 and introduced an “officially imported” sticker to be used on the winery’s bottles in China. He spoke to a dozen people at the office of ASC Fine Wines, which has had an exclusive importing and distributing deal with Penfolds since 2004, and said the sticker will let consumers know that the bottles were “sent, shipped, cellared, and delivered properly.”

“You don’t want to drink wine that’s done 18 circumferences of the world,” he said. “We all know about fraud, about counterfeiting, about parallel imports, so this is just terrific,” he added.

China is the first country where Penfolds is using such a sticker and I asked if the company considered it a particularly problematic market. Gago said Penfolds chose China because ASC had been “very proactive” and suggested the initiative.

Gago added that Penfolds takes numerous measures to protect its wine, from special printing on labels to placing indicators on corks, but most consumers are unaware of them. In contrast, the sticker will be easy to spot.

I joined a handful of people for lunch and an afternoon chat with Gago, and asked him about the local wine scene, the screw cap versus cork debate, Robert Parker’s then-upcoming China visit, and other topics. Expect full details in an upcoming post.

Burgundy in Beijing: The Louis Latour wine dinner

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By Jim Boyce

I had neither eaten at the Whampoa Club in Beijing nor drunk the wines of Louis Latour, so when Pernod Ricard invited me to try both at a “launch” dinner on May 31, I jumped at the chance. I put some mileage on my legs finding the club and, once inside, some strain on my eyes trying to spot a familiar face in the courtyard. I finally walked over to a stranger who stood alone. “Is this where the Latour dinner is being held?” I asked. “I hope so,” he replied. “I’m Latour.“

That was fortuitous and gave me a chance to talk with him briefly about the recent visit of Robert Parker (“he’s a good guy”), the “wine bubble” (have sales really kept pace with imports?), and his experience in China (he’s been to Hong Kong many times, but this is his first trip to the “mainland”). The 40 guests were then herded inside to try five wines paired with Chinese cuisine.

Latour began by talking about the winery’s history in China. He said it entered the market 15 years ago and holds a strong position in Hong Kong restaurants. He also described an early visit his father made with a group of “friendly competitors” from Burgundy and added that promotion of the region’s wines remains a challenge. “China is known as a big Bordeaux market,” said Latour. “We want to be here with our Point Noir. This is the biggest challenge today.”

As for the wines, I enjoyed the whites very much. The Macon-Lugny ‘Les Genievres’ 2006 (Chardonnay) was lovely and fresh, while the Corton Charlemagne 2003 had a complex nose – I smelled honey and white flowers, then pears and tropical fruit (pineapples?), a clean body, nice minerality, and a good finish.

As for the reds, both the Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2006 and the Aloxe Corton 2005 had red fruit (cherry) aromas, with the second having more fruit and earth flavors. The last wine, the Chateau Corton-Grancy 2003, had ample dark fruit and some spiciness, though I found it a bit too tannic.

As for the food-wine pairing, this is rarely easy with Chinese cuisine. Take the starter: it included cucumbers in vinegar, vegetables in a spicy sauce, a tofu roll, fungus, and other items, a difficult combination with which to pair a wine. Of the dishes we tried, my notes indicate the reds did best with the roasted pigeon with Sichuan peppercorns and scallions, primarily because the spice was turned to low.

Wine word – Gaia Gaja: Drink before food, and seven other points

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By Jim Boyce

I joined Gaia Gaja and a half-dozen others on May 21 for a lunch organized by ASC Fine Wines at CJW in Beijing. Here are a few comments she made as we enjoyed some Barbaresco 2004 from her family’s winery.

1. When you go to a restaurant, do you pick the wine or food first? “If I open the wine list and see something I like, I can’t resist. Then I open the food menu and find something for it.”

2. Have you tried Chinese wines? Not yet.

3. On explaining wine to Chinese consumers: “When I came to China a few years ago, I talked about the flavors in the wine. I said ‘violet’ and people said “what’s violet?‘ I said ‘truffle’ and people said ‘what’s truffle?‘ Then a guy said, ‘I don’t know what truffle is, but this reminds me of jasmine tea,” she says. “I like to get people from India and China to explain wine from their points of view. There are so many different spices and flowers here.”

4. On wine making in China: “I’m sure anyone can make wine, but it’s about the originality of the wine. I work with wine, so at night when I go home, I need something special, something that will stay in the glass for hours and evolve.” She cites Bordeaux as one of the wines that is up to the task. “China has to find the right spot [to make this kind of wine]. I’m sure there are great places here,” she says.

5. On finding wine too tannic as a youth: “The problem is that the first time you are moving into wine, you are looking for sweetness. For example, when I was little, I was eating marrons glaces (chestnuts in syrup),” she says, and explains that people’s tastes develop toward more tannic wines. “We sometimes say that people start with Cabernet, then as their taste evolves they get to [our] Nebbiolo,” she jokes.

6. On screw caps: “If we could move to screw caps, we would do it immediately. If you use bad corks, the wine gets damaged, and that makes me angry,” she says. The issue is that wine such as that made by Gaja matures over 40 to 50 years. “If you use screw caps, the wine may evolve more slowly than with cork,” she says. “It may be fresher and fruitier, but it may also be more closed.”

7. On corks: The closures used by Gaja are longer than the industry standard, measuring 59 mm, and at one time they were 61 mm. She notes that Gaja wine bottles use a Bordeaux neck on a Burgundy bottle in order to best handle these corks.

8. On the (then) upcoming Beijing visit by Robert Parker and on critics in general: She described Parker as “nice” and said that “when the scores come out, they have a big influence on price, even the same day.”

However, she has a different type of critique in mind. “Our dream is to give scores to writers,” she joked.

Photos: A. Yin

Tasting time: Beijing

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By Jim Boyce

Upcoming Beijing wine-related events

Thursday, June 12, 7 PM, Med (Block 8), RMB100
Ladies wine club, with US wines; RSVP with Kristen at kristen@block8.cn / 13240-114-868.

Thursday, June 12, 7 PM, Kokomo, RMB100
Charity wine tasting for Green Long March, with 5 wines; RSVP with lamarr_irby@hotmail.com / 13581-730-100.

Friday, June 13, 6:30 PM, Sequoia Cafe (Guanghua Lu), RMB100
Canadian wine tasting, with 5 winery reps, 9 ice wines, and more; RSVP with Frank at 13701-178-073.

Friday, June 13, 7 PM, Oh! Marco, RMB50 (free for VIPs)
Chilean wine tasting, includes two glasses of wine (RMB50 fee can be used against bottle purchases); RSVP at 6622-0566.

Saturday, June 14, 6:30 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB118
Cakebread wine dinner, with wine maker and president Bruce Cakebread; by ASC Fine Wines; RSVP with Danny Kane at 6505-2266, x36 /danny.kane@shangri-la.com or Helen Lu at 6587-3863 / homedelivery@asc-wines.com.

Saturday, June 14, 3-6 PM, Ritz-Carlton Financial Street, RMB120
The Culinary Coin Festival, with free-flow Champagne, wine, coffee, chocolate, and more.

Saturday, June 14, 7-10 PM, Greenfish (Ritz-Carlton Financial Street), RMB2008
Dinner with Volker Drkosch, 1-star Michelin chef; RSVP at 6601-6666.

Saturday, June 14, 7-10 PM, Cepe (Ritz-Carlton Financial Street), RMB2008
Dinner with Claudio Sadlerm, Michelin star chef; RSVP at 6601-6666.

Saturday, June 14, 7-10 PM, Qi (Ritz-Carlton Financial Street), RMB2008
Dinner with Eric M. Johnson, from Shanghai’s Jean George; RSVP at 6601-6666.

Thursday, June 19, 7-10:30 PM, Grand Hyatt Beijing, inquire re price
Chateau Margaux dinner, with owner Corinne Mentzelopoulos; 5 wines, limited to 15 seats; by Aussino World Wines; Info / RSVP with Sophia Wang at 6461-2072, x128.

Thursday, June 19, 7:30 PM, Bookworm, RMB180
Australia wine tasting, with 6 wines, by The Wine Republic; RSVP with Jenny at bookwormjenny@gmail.com / 6586-9507.

Friday, June 20, 7 PM, Les Millesimes (Jianwai Soho), RMB198
Cheese and wine tastings, with 20 cheeses, 2 wines; by Les Millesimes Wine Club; RSVP with Cyril at 13601-018-093 (French speakers) or Ekatatrina at 13552-380-948 (English, Chinese, Russian speakers).

Thursday, June 26, LAN, 7 PM, RMB280
Lafite wines from France, Chile and Argentina; RSVP with Jennifer Zhang at 6562-1800, x102 / jennifer.zhang@summergate.com.

Thursday, June 26, 7-8:30 PM, Bento & Berries (Kerry Centre Hotel), free
South African wine tasting, by Top Cellar; RSVP at 13521-434-994 or marketing@topcellar.com.cn.

Saturday, June 28, 6:30 PM, Maison Boulod (Legation Quarter), RMB4888
Haut-Brion / La Mission Haut-Brion wine dinner, with 7 wines, by ASC; with wineries’ owner Prince Robert of Luxembourge, GM / winemaker Jean-Philippe Delmas, and, for restaurant opening, chef Daniel Boulod; RSVP with Helen Lu at helenlu@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803.

Thursday, July 10, 7-8.30 PM, Amigo (Central Park), free
Rose and white wine tasting, by Top Cellar; RSVP at 13521-434-994 or marketing@topcellar.com.cn.

Note: If you intend to attend any of the above events, it is best to confirm the details with the venue ahead of time. To get a wine event listed, send event info, preferably in text format, to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.

format, to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.