Call for Wine

The Grape Wall Challenge 2010

June 24, Maison Boulud, Beijing

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The second Grape Wall Challenge will be held at Maison Boulud in Beijing on June 24. As with the first GWC challenge, the aim is to find wines that offer reasonable quality at modest prices as determined by a panel of Chinese wine consumers and a panel of Chinese wine professionals. As with last year’s event, the organizers are Nicolas Carre, Frankie Zhao, and Jim Boyce. The challenge chair is Ma Huiqin.

The challenge is designed for approximately 60 imported bottled wines. (A separate challenge is being organized for wines produced in China.) There is no entry fee but distributors are required to provide two bottles of each wine entered. They are also encouraged to provide a list of retail outlets where the wines can be bought by consumers.

Distributors are invited to submit a maximum of four wines:

• A maximum of two dry still red wines and two dry still white wines.
• Each wine must have a regular retail price of less than RMB100 in China and be accessible via retail outlets and/or online sales.
• Each wine must be made from a different grape or blend of grapes. For example, a distributor may only submit one Cabernet Sauvignon.
• A distributor may submit a maximum of two wines from a single nation. If a distributor submits two wines, these may originate from either one or two nations. If three wines,  they must originate from a minimum of two nations. If four wines, they must originate from a minimum of three nations.

This system encourages a wider range of grape varieties and nations of origin in the challenge. It also recognizes that China has distributors that import from a single nation and those that do so from multiple nations. This chart (hopefully) helps explain the requirements:

Wines to be submitted	Maximum # of red wines	Maximum # of White wines	Number of nation(s) of origin
1	0 or 1	0 or 1	1
2	1	1	1 or 2
3	1 or 2	1 or 2	2 or 3
4	2	2	3 or 4

Interested distributors should submit queries and/or confirm participation by sending an email to Nicolas Carre at frenchsommelier@gmail.com. (The deadline for delivering wines for the GWC Challenge is Monday, June 21, 5 PM.) Media inquiries should be directed to Jim Boyce at beijingboyce@yahoo.com.

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