I again joined Marc Curtis of China Wine Tours for a visit to Chateau Bolongbao, this time with a TV crew. My past posts covered Bolongbao’s vineyard, fermentation room, and cellar, and of the grape stomping held during a fall visit with the Beijing Wine Club. Here are a few from last Saturday’s visit:
The beginnings of a future vintage
of Bolongbao wine (photos: J. Boyce)
Translator and ex-Chateau Bolongbao
marketing director Tony Chen.
China Wine Tour’s Marc Curtis and Chen
in the fermentation room.
Chateau Bolongbao is in Hebei Province,
just outside Beijing
Rose bushes at the vineyard’s edge
act as early indicators of disease.
A hilltop view of Bolongbao taken during
our March visit.
Due to the Friday night wine tastings organized by Frank Siegel in the Sanliltun outlet of Sequoia Cafe, I’ve tried wines from North America (Canada, US), South American (Chile, Argentina), Asia (China, Japan), Africa (Morocco, South Africa), Europe (plenty of countries, including Slovenia – twice!), and Australia and New Zealand. I’ve tried white, red, rose, sparkling and sweet wines, dozens of varietals and blends, and participated in blind tastings of everything from Chinese wines to Argentinian Malbec. Most of all, I’ve come to know many Friday night “regulars“, whether they are wine professionals or simply fans of the grape.
So, it is unhappy news the Sanlitun Sequoia closed last weekend.
On the other hand, it is happy news the tastings will continueat Sequoia’s Guanghua Lu outlet (near Ritan Park). In fact, it might draw more people, given the 6:30 PM start and the proximity of many embassies, media outlets, and businesses. In any case, a raised glass to Sanlitun Sequoia, which served the wine community well for the past 18 months.
By Jim Boyce | I joined forty people on the Great Wall on May 24 for dinner with the world’s most influential wine critic—Robert Parker. He is best known for giving wine scores out of 100 points, scores that are praised and pilloried by critics and consumers, scores that are used selectively marketers and salespeople. In honor of him, I will similarly grade the dinner, with up to 20 points in five categories–The Venue, The Wine, The Food, The Parker and The Details. Unlike him, I consider price when giving my score.
Before I start, let me first mention the four questions peopled have tended to ask me about the Parker dinner.
1. Did you really pay RMB16,000 to attend? No.
2. Did you go for free? No.
3. How much did you pay?
Here’s the deal: On May 24, I found myself at China World Hotel in central Beijing at 4 PM, resting between a full day of the first International Congress on Chinese Cuisine & Wine and an eagerly anticipated vertical tasting of Penfolds Grange. Suddenly, after weeks of mulling over the Parker event, I decided: “If I don’t go tonight, I’ll always regret it.”
I called ASC, which organized the dinner, and discovered they had a spot left. I shifted into Silk Market bargaining mode. My position: ASC faced zero revenue from that empty seat, I had minimal funds in my (near) empty wallet, and by signing up late I would miss some benefits–the Champagne reception, the personalized Riedel glasses given to each guest, and so on. Thus, a discount seemed fair or at least that is what I argued.
Several phone calls and 20 minutes later we agreed on the somewhat blogger-friendly fee of RMB10,000. This was still ten times more money than I’ve ever spent on a wine event.
I asked China World Hotel’s Danny Kane to lend me a bow tie as I recently lost mine. Then I raced through eight vintages of Penfolds Grange, raced home to dress, and raced 75 minutes by taxi to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. I was the last to arrive for dinner, but I will likely write the most about it.
That leads me to the last question:
4. How was it? Here is the answer.
The Venue
Let me repeat–but this time seriously–from an earlier post:
Watchtowers lit in gold, walkways lit in silver–the Great Wall shone like an ornate necklace draped over a mountain of wrinkled black velvet. Long-silenced iron cannons pointed at the ghosts of invading hordes, white flags cracked in the cool stiff breeze. The moon hung low, orange as a ripe gourd.
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Rare are opportunities to dine on one of the great wonders of the world, especially one as gorgeously decorated as was this. Even rarer is to drink in this view and drink in excellent wines with the most important critic, on his first visit to Beijing.
The timing also held significance, at least for me. This section of The Great Wall sits on the edge of Beijing, a city about to have its “coming out party” by hosting the Olympics, in China, an increasingly powerful country on the global scene, including in the wine trade.
Considering this, and that we enjoyed a crisp and relatively starry night, it would be harder to find a better or more timely venue.
Nitpickers might say Badaling is a rebuilt part of the wall, that it is near a highway (though this is unseen from the tables and, for me, has a certain charm in contrasting the past and present), and so on. But nitpicking is all it is. Simply put, the venue was inspiring.
(As a bonus, the outdoor setting meant ASC founder Don St. Pierre Sr could smoke his Marlboros wherever the hell he wanted to.)
Score: 20/20
The Wine
As I practiced Mandarin with the taxi driver on my 75-minute ride (cost: RMB205), other patrons enjoyed Champagne at the reception. Such is life. I did, however, try the other seven wines, and had second pours of most. Here they are, with Parker’s scores in brackets:
Louis-Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2002 (94) E. Guigal Cote-Rotie La Turque 1999 (100) Chateau Haut-Brion 1989, 1st Grand Cru Classe (100) Torbreck Runrig 2003 (99) Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (100) Kracher Chardonnay No. 7 1999 (96) Taylor’s Port 2003 (98)
This lineup gets marks for range (three continents), diversity (red, white, and dessert) and Parker palate loyalty (from the tarry Cote-Rotie to the fruit-heavy Shafer to the syrupy Kracher, they are “big”). I had imagined drinking something older than me, imagined a dusty bottle–perhaps from 1949–being produced at the last moment (in place of, say, the 2003 Port). Alack and alas, I now imagine monies that might be used for such wine were spent on renting and lighting the Wall.
My favorite wine: Louis Jadot (lovely fruit), though all of the reds were excellent.
My least favorite wine: the Kracher (too viscous).
My favorite wine critic: The heavy industry manager at our table who, upon hearing Parker describe the Haut-Brion as arguably the past century’s best wine, said the 1989 vintage less perfectly expresses the terroir than does the 1997. She also questioned whether Parker had properly evaluated the “violet” nature of one wine. Someone give this woman a blog!
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Score: 17.5/20
The Food
Headed by chef Brian McKenna, the staff of the Blu Lobster at the Shangri-la Hotel restaurant worked in a makeshift kitchen to provide a seven-course dinner.
I found the “crispy roasted suckling pig” a bit fatty (second course) and the “rabbit saddle, legs and kidneys” a bit dry (third course), though the “end-of-season lamb prepared two ways” was nice (main course)—all of them worked OK with the wine from what I recall in my notes and from memory.
My favorite match: the “lightly spiced lobster risotto ‘sausage’ with avocado, tempura and lemongrass” (the starter). This dish had a lot going on—cold and hot items, spicy and mild ones, etc—but paired well with the fruit and acidity of the Louis Jadot. My second favorite: the “veal sirloin ‘treated like roast beef'” (third course), which came with a creamy sauce and Shitake mushrooms, that I enjoyed with the fruity Torbreck.
My least favorites: the dessert and cheese dishes. The “slow-roasted pineapple and ginger lasagna”, with what I take was coconut foam bubbling from a shot glass, overpowered the Kracher desert wall like—obligatory historical reference—hordes breaching The Great Wall. I found the same with the “Fourme d’Ambert blue cheese” and the Port: more hordes, more attacked wine.
One could give kudos to the kitchen for pushing the envelope. Then again, the envelope had already taken a mighty shove—Robert Parker, The Great Wall—and with the presence of the world’s leading critic the food should have been at most an equal, but definitely not major, partner with the wine. (As evidence, the wine received more prominence on the menu.) If you are going to take risks on the food side, this would have been the ultimate opportunity to pair Chinese cuisine with foreign grape wines.
Credit goes to the staff for operating under challenging conditions—the kitchen sat some distance from the diners, the dinner was lengthy, the night was cool—and for providing polite and professional service.
Score: 16/20
The Parker
I spent RMB1000 about a month ago to attend an ASC dinner organized for five winery owners from Bordeaux. One owner sat at each of the five tables of guests and, as a new course arrived, they rotated to a new table so that by night’s end we had met them all. Good times all around.
I didn’t feel the same love at the Parker dinner, though I admittedly might have missed group hugs at the reception. Parker pretty much parked at the head table for four hours, which was good… if you were sitting there. Like 80 percent of the attendees, I was at one of the other four tables. I can’t help but think that had Parker spent a course at each table, we would have been happier and he would have learned a great deal about China’s wine market.
In any case, Parker spoke several times during dinner. He acknowledged the tragedy of the Sichuan earthquake and stressed the importance of living life to the fullest.
He said the dinner would “be the most historical food and wine event ever done” and “most of the wines for me are the very finest wine could be.” He rose several times during dinner to give impressions on the wines.
He also endured meeting me twice. First, Adam Steinberg, communications director for ASC, introduced me when I arrived. I exchanged a handshake and at most 30 seconds of small talk with Parker.
Two hours later, as I chatted with St. Pierre on a smoke break, Steinberg, despite my reservations, introduced me again. Parker said something like, “Yes, we met,” and we shared another 30 seconds of small talk.
Finally, an hour later, Steinberg offered to facilitate a third exchange. I declined. At best, I imagined Parker saying, “I know, I know, the blogger guy.” At worst, he might have gone for me with an empty wine bottle for annoying him thrice.
I’m not sure how the others guests felt, but I’m fairly certain the head of a major magazine, one seat over from me, would have preferred more time with Peking Parker and less with Beijing Boyce. Then again, maybe she always looks unhappy.
Parker and I shake hands; Steinberg prepares to tackle me should I hold on too long.
Score: 15/20
The Details
I’ll start with the bad.
This was Parker’s first trip to China, we were on the Great Wall of China, and it is arguably the greatest symbol of China. The key word here: China. Thus, you might expect the music to evoke said country, say in the form of one of those all-female qipao-wearing quartets that play the pipa, erhu, and other traditional instruments.
We had a harp player. She plucked Que Sera, Sera. She strummed Edelweiss. She did songs that someone who owns The Greatest Hits of Lawrence Welk and the soundtrack to The Sound of Music would love.
I don’t doubt her talent. It’s a context thing.
The same goes for the CD played while the harpist rested her fingers. I heard some song with the lyrics “You know how to turn me on / Oh, you got it going on” at least three times. (Almost as bad as my repeating a CD five times at a 1500-person Fourth of July party in Beijing three years ago. Except that music was good).
One positive about the music: I will always be able to say I sat on the Great Wall and heard a harpist play “My Way.”
Now, the good things:
Attendees received personalized Riedel glassware, an autographed copy of Parker’s 700-page tome The World’s Greatest Wine Estates and, in some cases, empties of the bottles from the night.
The menus were embossed on a series of thin bamboo slats and could be rolled up as a souvenir. The wine in each glass was identified by a coaster beneath. The candles sat deep within a centerpiece thus preventing the wind from blowing them out. Good attention to detail all around.
St. Pierre gave a self-described shortest speech ever: “Who the hell wants to listen to me when we have Robert Parker here?” He later described going to the toilet as “one hell of a trip”, an accurate assessment given how far away the facilities stood. On the other hand, these were high-end porta-potties, with wood-panel floors, solid bowls, toilet paper, and sinks. There were employees on hand to help patrons up and down the somewhat hazardous steps.
Finally, as noted, my decision to attend the dinner was less an eleventh hour decision than eleventh hour and fifty ninth-minute one. ASC handled this well. Steinberg met me in the parking lot and handed me a bow tie (thanks to him and Danny Kane for their efforts), navigated me to to meet Parker, and then took me to my table, after which… well, you’ve read the review.
Spot the harp player.
Score: 18.5/20
Note: In two years of writing about wine, the Parker dinner represents the most money I have spent on, the farthest I have traveled to, and the longest post I have written about any event. Credit goes to ASC for organizing this event—I doubt any other wine distributor at this time would dedicate the time, money, staff and willpower to pull this off and, from what I understand, this dinner was two years in the making. As someone who has organized or helped organize events, I know that when things go right, it is usually because of people behind the scenes taking care of the details. Credit also goes to them for an event that I will long remember.
Frederic and Barbara Choux with Christine Lagarde (right), former foreign trade minister and current finance minister for France, at a ceremony in Shanghai to recognize top small-and-medium sized French firms in China.
Frederic and Barbara Choux opened their wine importation and distribution business DCTWines in the northeast city of Dalian in 2004. I talked to Frederic Choux about why they opened in a smaller city, their focus on temperature-controlled shipping, and what led them to join the wine business in China.
Why did you start your business in Dalian rather than in a bigger city such as Beijing or Shanghai?
We did it for three reasons.
First, we didn’t want to face the competition in the bigger cities. We needed time to build our company, so we went to a smaller city that attracts less attention, and then moved into the Beijing and Shanghai markets. Now we do about 20 percent of our business in Dalian, 40 percent in Shanghai, 20 percent in Beijing, and 20 percent in other cities.
Second, Dalian has a very good port so that makes it a good place for importing wine.
Third, it is a nice city – clean, close to the sea, of reasonable size, and with a good overall feel. Why is your portfolio limited to French wine?
I think that people should do what they know. I know French wine and I know how to source it. I would not do as well buying other countries’ wines, in terms of price and quality, and that is my first job – to buy wine before I sell it.
You have said temperature-controlled shipping is a focus for DCT. What steps do you take to get your wine to China?
All our shipments from France to China, including our shipments of cheaper wines, are done in temperature-controlled containers. We use air-conditioned containers set at 15 degrees Celsius and we have a monitor inside to make sure the temperature is maintained throughout the trip. The monitor’s battery can last two months – if you start in France, it can take one month to get the shipment to China and then up to one month in Customs.
If the temperature wasn’t maintained during the trip, we wouldn’t pay, but so far we have done 25 shipments and had no problems. This might all seem difficult, but logistics companies know how to do it and you just have to tell them your needs.
Also, if you talk to logistics companies, you will learn that the temperature on a ship can range from O degrees to 40 degrees, and constantly fluctuate between the two. So we starting shipped with temperature-controlled containers for ethical reasons, because we couldn’t imagine transporting wine any other way. Now it has become an added value for our business.
What changes in the wine business have you seen since starting in 2004?
I’ve seen a small increase in the quantity and a real increase in the quality in my business. As an example, over the past two years, we have had customers in our Dalian shop who come in and buy cheap wine at around 50 or 55 kuai per bottle, maybe two or three bottles every month or two. Over time, some of them have started trying more expensive wines, at around 120 kuai. They say they want something better and always ask questions about wine. From this, you see the growth in the quality of the wines and of the consumers.
I’m a little optimistic about the future of the wine market here, but the key is to educate and respect consumers, otherwise the market will be flat.
How did you get involved in the wine business?
Six years ago, we took a six-month world trip and the place we spent the most time was China. We had lived in Paris and in LA, and when we decided to do something different with our lives, we thought of China. We were not wine professionals, but we liked wine, so we spent nearly a year studying whether or not we could launch a business such as DCT in China. The answer was yes. In other countries the wine market is already full, but China is fairly new to wine – it is a new place to explore.
Winery reps gather in 1949’s Bollinger bar (photo: ASC)
Representatives from some 20 wine producers participated in a Q&A session just ahead of Tuesday’s Global Wine Extravaganza organized by ASC at 1949: The Hidden City. The number of people involved meant brief answers, thus I have included several to my question (listed first) as well as to those of others. I have paraphrased where appropriate.
Many producers in China are making wine that has been described as “cheap Bordeaux” and many consumers, due to marketing and other factors, tend to be fixated on drinking Bordeaux or Bordeaux-style wines. In the face of this, many Chinese, especially those new to wine, do not like these kinds of dry tannic reds. What do you think of this situation?
Nicholas Heath, marketing director, Taylor’s: “I have noticed in the past few days that there is an interest in sweeter wines [in China], and not necessarily limited to female consumers.”
Alberto Chiarlo, owner, Michelle Chiarlo: “If Bordeaux is difficult [for consumers], then Barolo is impossible [given its complexity and tannins],” he joked. Chiarlo said his winery produces Muscat, thus providing an option to those who are new to wine, while Bordeaux offers sweeter wine in the form of Sauternes.
Thibault Delpech, Asia-Pacific sales manager, Ginestet: Because Bordeaux is famous, this phenomenon is seen in many markets, he said. The problem is that people drink either cheap Bordeaux or very expensive Bordeaux, but few experiment in the mid-range. He noted that consumers at the afternoon’s tasting would get a chance to some mid-range wine.
John Kolasa, chairman, Chateau Rauzan-Segla: Based on his three days in China with consumers, restaurant staff, and others, he said that next time he would bring older Bordeaux wines, since those from the 1950s and 1960s are more elegant and the tannins are not as strong.
One participant also stated: “Perhaps it is a mistake that too many people are coming from Bordeaux with young wines. It’s perfectly right that people don’t get a good impression when those wines are particularly young [and tannic].” [I couldn’t tell from my notes who said this.]
Have you tried Chinese wine?
Of 20 people who answered, 15 said they had tried Chinese wine. Only a few discussed specific wineries, with Dynasty, Changyu, Great Wall, and Grace Vineyard named. One said he tried Changyu and “loved it, but there was a bit of room for improvement,” while another said he saw “huge improvement” in a Dynasty Chardonnay Reserve. Three people said they had first tried Chinese wine about a decade ago and seen significant improvement, with one saying a Riesling tried at that time had been surprisingly good.
“Improvement” seemed to be the key word when it came to Chinese wine, with about ten people uttering it. Other comments:
China is a vast country and thus should have the “terroir” to make good wines.
China has strong potential to become an exporter of wine.
For China’s wine industry to gain credibility, the vintage listed on bottles should reflect that of the grapes inside, and not be picked for other reasons, such as being a lucky number.
Finally, Taylor’s Heath, while noting the improvement of local wines, said he “hoped as wine culture evolves that China doesn’t forget its own tradition, especially its rice wines, including its aged ones.”
What makes your wine appealing to the China market?
Robert Baxter, international export director, Joseph Phelps, noted the importance of wines that express the climate and soil from which they come, thus making them “identifiable.” Amy Camille Seghesio, export director, Seghesio, made a similar point by saying her winery’s varietal – Zinfindel – is unique and can’t be repeated. Stephen Kline, wine educator for Brown Brothers, said the winery seeks to “widen” its offerings, with wines such as muscat, with the company’s export manager, Matthew Turner, adding that these include sweeter wines with low alcohol: “a lot of Chinese ladies we’ve been speaking to [like it].”
Wine education tends to come more from “new world” producers than “old world” ones. What do you think about this?
Delpech of Ginestet noted that his company sent samples of bulk wine to China and then had Chinese in four cities make their own blends last December.
“Old World” wines, especially Bordeaux, can be intimidating and marketing, rather than education, might ease the situation. What kind of marketing efforts are being made?
Wu Dan, Asia-Pacific sales manager, Marques de Riscal: Since she joined the winery in 2005, she has seen consumer knowledge of Spanish wines grow.
Seghesio: “We are a small, family-owned business, so I am the marketing department,” she said, and added that making the decision to come to China is in itself marketing. . She added that it’s not possible to generalize about “new world” and “old world” marketing, since both have big and small companies.
Arnaud Bourgeios, owner of Henri Bourgeios: “Sometimes the risk is that too much marketing means a loss of identify,” he said. “We don’t want to change the wine to match the market, we want to explain why the wine is the way it is.”
Chiarlo: “I wish we were as bad as Bordeaux in marketing and had their pricing,” he joked. As an Italian wine producer, he said he focused on Italian restaurants, as these are accepted worldwide.
Friday, June 6, Le Pre Lenotre (Sofitel Wanda Hotel), RMB998 Mas La Plana vertical tasting and dinner, with 1989, 2000, 2003, 2004 Black Label and 2006 Milmanda White Label; by Torres China; RSVP with Sophie at 5165-5519, x208 / sophie@torres.com.cn
Friday, June 6, 6:30 PM, Sequoia Cafe (Sanlitun), RMB100 Tasting of American micro-brews, including North Coast Red Seal Ale, North Coast Old #38 Stout, Rogue American Amber Ale, Rogue Dead Guy Ale and Rogue Brutal Bitter Ale; RSVP with Frank at 13701-178-073.
Sunday, June 8, 7 PM, SALT, RMB398 Michel Torino wine dinner, 4 wines, 4-course degustation menu, with Torino’s Juliana Radavero; by Palette Wines; RSVP at 13671-382-187.
Saturday, June 14, 6:30 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB118 Cakebread wine dinner, with wine maker / 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.
Note: To get a wine event listed, send event info, preferably in text format, to beijingboyce@yahoo.com. If you intend to attend any of the above events, it is best to confirm with the venue ahead of time.
(Note: This translation my post on the May 26 trade tasting with Robert Parker, held in Beijing by ASC, was facilitated by Ma Huiqin, professor at China Agricultural University.)
Beijing consumers tasted their way through more than 100 wines from 22 producers as ASC held its Global Wine Extravaganza yesterday at 1949: The Hidden City. Representatives from the wineries, many of whom were in town after attending VinExpo in Hong Kong, did the pouring and chatted with consumers. ASC estimates that more than 300 people attended the event, which was moved indoors at 1949 due to the threat of rain. Despite it being a bit crowded and dim, the event had a nice vibe and the pours were substantial. This was the latest event to feature a good portion of a wine distributor’s portfolio at low cost (see these posts about tastings by Torres, Palette, Palette again, and GELIPU-Winelink).
Here are some of my notes on the wines, though I qualify them by stating that I didn’t make it to every winery’s table.
Joseph Phelps. It is always a treat to drink Insignia – especially as this Napa Valley wine costs ~RMB2400 per bottle – and the powerful black fruit-driven 2001 didn’t disappoint. I also liked the finishes on the other Phelps wines, including Innisfree Cabernet Sauvignon 2005.
Seghesio: The Sonoma Zinfandel 2006 and Old Vine Zinfandel 2005 offered lots of fruit and jamminess, with a hint of spice. These are good options for people seeking wine that offers a combination of smoothness and high alcohol (~15 percent).
Meerlust: I liked the constantly changing aroma of the Chardonnay 2006 (honey, citrus, and more). This is a wine I will try again.
Brown Brothers: The Chenin Blanc 2007 (citrus and melon aromas, sweetness in the body), Everton White 2006 (lots of juicy fruit), and heavily perfumed Moscato 2007 (nice grapefruit, almost soda-like, zip) are all good white wines for beginners. I noticed that many people liked the Orange Muscat & Flora 2007, thought I found it a bit sweet (think hints of Creamsicle).
I also liked the Gavi di Gavi DOCG 2007 and Barbera D’Asti ‘La Court” 2004 from Michele Chiarlo, the Reserva 2003 from Marques de Riscal, and the wines from Trimbach.
By the way, I was among several attendees NBC interviewed about halfway through the tasting. I hope my answers were coherent!
Guy Wittich (top right) leads a Rhone Valley wine tour.
Guy Wittich, CEO of the European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, has been intimately involved in Taiwan’s wine scene for decades, whether as a consumer or a club, event and trip organizer. (Note: Wittich is my former boss and piqued my interest in wine when he asked me to help the chamber organize a series of dinners in 2003.)
You’ve been in Taipei since the 1980s. How does the wine scene compare then and now, and what are the emerging trends?
With the wave of new foreign investors arriving in the late eighties, and the lifting of martial law, there was quite some activity in wine promotion. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines cooperated with the Taipei Hilton in flying in the first batch of Beaujolais Nouveau from Lyon. Table wines were relatively expensive due to excise taxes and customs duties, but higher-end Bordeaux was priced very competitively. And Australian wines were popular for their excellent value – I recall buying Henschke, Penfolds, Margaret River, and other top wines for a fraction of what they would cost now.
In the early nineties, drinking wine became a trend among the Taiwanese. Many new wine retail stores emerged, even a chain of wine stores called Drinks, and large quantities of wine were imported from France, Italy, the U.S., and elsewhere. With supply far exceeding demand, many of these stores disappeared and this meant there were some very good bargains in the market. I remember buying a case of Chateau Carbonnieux Grand Cru (from Graves) at NT$300 (6.25 Euros) per bottle! Chilean wines also became popular in the nineties and are considered good value for money.
Top end wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy have been selling very well in Taiwan during the last 10-15 years. Some private Taiwanese collectors have amazing wine cellars with vintage wines from the 1870s, and top years such as 1945, 1963, and 1982. For a very nice public cellar, visit restaurant Villa 32 (www.villa32.com.tw) for an impressive collection of Petrus, d’Yquem, and Latour.
The European Chamber has held more than 30 wine dinners since 2003? Why did you start the wine dinner series and what have been some highlights.
As we were until then a rather serious business organization specialized in advocacy, we wanted to offer our members a social event strong associated with European culture. We came up with the idea of thematic wine tasting dinners at top restaurants.
One of the keys to success has been to work with wine consultant John Isacs – an American based in Taiwan for the last 23 years – who is in charge of selecting the wines with the various importers, many of which are members of our chamber.
We cap the diners at 50 persons in order to guarantee the quality of the menu. Another limitation is the availability of quality glasses (preferably Riedel) – with an average of six to seven wines per evening, only a few hotels and two or three restaurants in Taipei can host our events.
We started in 2003 with a “Tour de France” dinner at the Ritz Landis Taipei. Other highlights were our Italian dinners with Baron Francesco Ricasoli flying in from Italy to introduce his wonderful Tuscan wines. We had Nicholas Jaboulet introduce a fantastic selection of Northern Rhone wines by the house of Paul Jaboulet-Aine, the Moet-Hennessy dinners with Veuve Cliquot’s La Grande Dame, Dom Perignon, and Krug, then a “Battle between the New and Old Worlds,” with over 14 wines served side-by-side in a comparison of grape varieties from Europe against their counterparts elsewhere.
Last month we had a Hungarian wine tasting dinner organized by Csaba Gergely, one of the major Hungarian wine exporters, with entertainment provided by a gypsy orchestra flown in from Budapest. (Besides the world-famous Tokaj wines, they also produce excellent reds.) We just had the sales director of Smith Haut-Lafitte introduce some of the chateau’s recent top vintages, including the 2000 red – given 94 points by the Wine Advocate – one of the best they have ever made. Steve Fang of wine importer Chateau Wines and Spirits together with Smith Haut-Lafitte generously air freighted the bottles directly from the chateau’s cellar for this event.
As for the restaurants, we are working directly with their executive chefs in selecting dishes to match the wines. We have kept our price per person very reasonable as we consider these events a service to our members. A six-course dinner including all wines would cost NT$3,600 per person. We have a very loyal – and at times fanatic – group of dinner participants, including the president of the chaine des rotisseurs in Taipei, European trade office representatives, CEOs of our member companies, and their Taiwanese guests.
You founded a Rhone Valley Wine Society in Taipei in 2004. Why focus on the Rhone Valley and what was the public response?
I have to admit top not being very active with the society for the last couple of years, as the project has been squeezed between my busy work and family lives. I am a not totally unbiased fan of Rhone wines and this all has to do with the fact that we have a family house in the middle of the Southern Rhone region, near the village of Vinsobres, where I have either lived or frequently visited for the last 44 years.
The house is surrounded by vineyards and I recall the early wake-up calls by the tractor plowing the earth between the vines or spraying sulfur. In September we helped the neighbors with the harvest, and brought the grapes to the Caves Cooperative of Vinsobres. The Cooperative paid the farmer based on alcohol percentage of the grapes. All of it was made into cheap CDR.
In response to globalization and fierce competition from the new world, particularly from Chile and Australia, Rhone valley producers have been putting a lot of effort in upgrading their wine quality in recent years. Hence, the new generation of wine makers has studied at universities in Bordeaux or at the Wine University in Suze la Rousse, which is 20 minutes from Vinsobres, in order to make better quality wine. Older vine grapes with higher alcohol levels (usually those harvested from the vineyards on the hills) are segregated from the rest and spend time in new French or American oak barrels in order to create “cuvee prestige” wines. Others stay away from using new barrels or use a combination of new and old.
The Rhone region, and in particular the Provence, has gained increasing popularity in Taiwan as a travel destination for its beautiful sceneries, as a source of lifestyle products (such as Occitane and lavender oils for spa treatments), and as producer of wines that prove to be very suitable when paired with Chinese cuisine, particularly the red grape varieties Grenache (Southern Rhone) and Syrah (Northern Rhone). Many of the high-quality Rhone wines, and in particular the Southern Rhone wines, are still reasonably priced when compared to their Bordeaux and Burgundy counterparts. Top chateaux, such as Domaine du Pegau, Beaucastel and Rayas from the Southern Rhone, as well as the bit pricier Cote Rotie from Guigal and Chave’s Hermitage from the Northern Rhone, are all within NT$2500-5000 per bottle range – half of the price of their Bordeaux counterparts.
We organized a number of wine tasting dinners for the society, combining wines with both southern European and Chinese cuisines. In particular, Sichuan dishes go well with the Grenache-based wines.
You took a group of Taiwanese on a food and wine tour of France. How did the tour work?
In November 2004 I organized a tour to the Rhone Valley for a group of 12 Taiwanese wine enthusiasts, including a Taiwanese wine importer. The six-day itinerary featured some of the finest of French cuisine, visits to the region’s top wineries, and sightseeing in the beautiful Provencal region. It was quite some work to get the tour together, and was tailor-made to the fit the best restaurants and wine producers into the program.
The tour started in the Southern Rhone where we used the eighteenth-century Hotel d’Europe in Avignon as our base. We were welcomed by Jean-andre Charial of L’Ousteau de Beaumaniere (**), beautifully situated between the rocks of Les Baux de Provence, had dinner at La Mirande (*) in Avignon where we had a Table d’Hote (i.e. dinner in the kitchen) with Chef Jean-Claude Altmayer, and at La Beaugraviere in Mondragon Chef Jullien presented us with a fantastic truffle menu along with the region’s most impressive wine list: 10 pages long and including some extraordinary bottles from the 1930s and 1940s. We received a 1955 Chateau Rayas Vendange Tardive as a present from Mme Jullien.
On our way to the Northern Rhone we lunched at Hotellerie Beau Rivage (**), and had our first bottle of the Syrah-based Northern Rhone wines: a beautiful 1994 Cote Rotie Guigal La Landonne. Our culinary adventure ended in Roanne at the 3-star Michelin Troisgros where we were welcomed by owner and Chef Michel Troisgros. That night we had a fabulous dinner, and a tour through the kitchen of this institute of French haute-cuisine, the cradle where many great chefs of France started their careers. It’s interesting to mention that our Taiwanese participantsordered mostly top vintage Burgundy wines at these restaurants, and very few Rhone wines…
As for the wine part of the tour; we started with a half day Rhone wine course at the Wine University of Suze la Rousse, situated in a twelfth-century castle – explaining the grape varieties, the terroir, and the tasting of typical Rhone wine aromas. After this crash course in Rhone wines, we started with visits to producers of Cotes du Rhone Villages wines (Domaine Viret, Domaine Chaume-Arnaud), followed by a short visit and aperitif at our own home, “L’Hermitage,” near Vinsobres. The next day we visited Beaumes-de-Venise, Cairanne and Gigondas region, and tasted the Muscat-based desert wines from Domaine des Bernardins, and got a detailed explanation of the wine-making process by Daniel Brusset of Domaine Brusset in Cairanne (Les Haut de Montmiral, Gigondas). In Gigondas we visited St. Cosme.
In the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region we visited my favourite domains Chateau de Beaucastel, Domaine du Pegau, Domaine de Marcoux and Domaine de la Mordoree (a bit further down in Tavel). In the Northern Rhone our first stop was in Cornas at Domaine Auguste Clape – we drove by the insiginificant and modest entrance three times – to visit the historic caves of this most famous Cornas domaine. Most interesting was to taste the wines of different cepages (which comes different plots of land with vines of different age before being mixed into Clape’s Cornas blend). We ended the day at Guigal where son and wine maker Philippe showed us through the enormous cave and the impressive control room. We had a fantastic tasting experience of their three world-famous Cote Rotie Lalala (La Landonne, la Turque, and La Mouline ). All in all, a wonderful trip.
Where does your interest in wine come from, what are your favorite regions and varietals, and what are you drinking these days?
I grew up with wine since very young. As teenagers in Vinsobres, for lunch we drank table wine with lots of water in it.
I do not have one favorite varietal or region. Wine is like music, and what I’m drinking very much depends on my mood – and perhaps the food as well.
In my cellar I have some Bordeaux (a nice ’88 Chateau Margaux) and Burgundy, then from Italy a number Ricassoli wines (Castello di Broglio, Chianti Classico Reserva) and yes, many Rhone wines: Chateauneuf-du-Pape’s from Domaine Pegau (the 2001 is excellent), Vieux Telegraphe, and Domaine de la Mordoree; from Gigondas Brusset’s Les Hauts de Montmiral (2001, 2003, 2005), St. Cosme’s Cuvee “Valbelle,” and just very recently I drank a wonderful Vin de Table from St. Cosme with a comic label and a wine called Little James’ Basket Press, at only NT$530 (RMB110) per bottle… I also have some Australian wines: Torbreck’s The Steading (2003) is excellent, resembling some top CDP.s.
However, most of my wine is in the cellar of our house in Vinsobres. My retired parents have lived there permanently for the last 10 years, and every year when we visit, we tour the region’s wine makers and buy a couple of cases. Besides the ones already mentioned, Vieux Donjon in Chateauneuf makes a wonderful white, and Domaine de la Janasse’s 2006 CDP Vieilles Vignes (85% Grenache, 10% Syrah, some Mourvedre) has an extraordinary concentration, but is very smooth with many blackberry aromas. Upon arrival we spend some time selecting the wines to drink during our stay, including those wines that are about ready to drink: the 10- to 15-year-old CDPs, or the 8- to 10-year-old Gigondas/Cairanne or even the very concentrated 9- to 10-year-old Cotes du Rhone Village made by Les Aphillantes. Most of the wines from Cotes du Rhones have to be drunk within 6-8 years. I should also mention the excellent white Viognier wines made around the region (Chaume Arnaud, Domaine Brusset, Viret).
Barring last-minute problems, Enoteca should open in The Place sometime this week, says Youngju Lee, a partner in the wine bar. The Beijing outlet is the third in the Enoteca chain and follows the two opened in Shanghai during the past year, says Lee, who heads Radonda Fine Wines.
Lee says 99 percent of the wine at Enoteca is imported directly from wineries by him or his partner. “We’re not buying from other distributors, we’re cutting out the middleman,” he says. Their portfolio includes wines from France, Chile and South Africa, among other places, with Australia being the notable omissions.
Expect a lineup of eight wines by the glass. The menu will be regularly rotated, so patrons might find four reds and four whites, or three reds, three whites, and two roses, or some other mix, says Lee. Prices are expected to range from RMB35 to RMB80-90 per glass. There will also be upwards of 100 wines available by bottle. The Enoteca food menu will include tapas, pasta, and a few other items.
