‘Adventure’ & ‘Authenticity’: Gen Z, Wine & a US Chef

“Adventure” and “authenticity.” I’ve been doing research on China’s 260-million-strong Generation Zand it’s impact on wine.

This “only child” generation was the first to grow up with social media and e-commerce, and is savvy at both. Gen Zers also emerged in a China that only knew skyrocketing economic growth but now faces some uncertainty. Despite that, they are big spenders, often prioritizing life’s simple pleasures over saving for big-ticket items such as apartments. At least that’s what I read and what have been told!

Anyway, I’ll post more about Gen Z soon, including stats, but I did discuss this topic last week with U.S. chef Rick Bayless and his team, who were visiting China for the first time since 2018. Bayless is an indefatigable promoter of Mexican food and drink, via his TV shows, how-to videos, books and restaurants, including Frontera Grill in Chicago.

I mentioned that China’s Gen Z wine drinkers often seek both adventure and authenticity and, if I understood correctly, Bayless wondered how a continuous desire for new experiences / wines fits with the far less flexible quality of authenticity.

That made me think how to reconcile the two.

So, I asked myself: what’s more authentic?

China’s wine market ten years ago, when people heavily focused on Cabernet-driven oak-aged wines that emulated Bordeaux and in many cases were indistinguishable for consumers.

Or the growing diversity of today, including from local producers, who are using grapes varieties like Malbec, Marselan and Black Muscat to Rkatsiteli, Viogner and Vidal, and a wide range of styles, including pet-nat and skin-contact, which have long histories, in the latter case over 6000 years.

I’m taking answer two.

In the same way, isn’t it a search for both adventure and authenticity that leads people to pursue wines of terroir, to pursue true expressions of a grape and / or region? And given how many regions, producers and varieties exist worldwide, the adventure isn’t just for one authenticity, but hundreds or thousands or even more authenticities.

That is a lot more fun than finding which country’s emulation of Bordeaux is best according to “international” standards. So, I’m on Gen Z’s side on this.

Anyway, this sense of adventure was reflected in 14 wines that I picked for Bayless to taste with his partner Deann Bayless, Sam Lipp, president of Bayless’ Tortazo restaurants in Chicago and New York, and China-based agave spirits promoters Nicole and Ray Heng. (Heng is also chef / owner of Pebbles Mexican restaurant in Beijing and previously trained and worked at Frontera.)

These wines are one reason I am hopeful about China. While wine is a disaster on a macro level, as we see falling imports, production and consumption, much of this is due to less status-based buying for gifting, entertaining and banqueting.

When it comes to drinking for pleasure and adventure – and authenticity! – we see lots of activity in terms of new wine bars, festivals and products, with Generation Z an important part of that.

Here are the wines we tried in Beijing.

DEVO Rose
Yinchuan, Ningxia

A refreshing traditional-method bubbly to start, with plenty of berry power – strawberry, cranberry, cherry – and acidity, making it versatile for our meal of classic dishes from around China.

Lingering Clouds Black Tea Chardonnay Pet-Nat
Yinchuan, Ningxia

One of five tea-infused pet-nats by Lingering Clouds, all using Chardonnay as a canvas. Fully fermented, this one is drier and leaner than other infusions like oolong and jasmine, with an enduring foam and evident tea character. This one benefitted from breathing.

Clovitis Dragon Eye
Huailai, Hebei

Using a variety that has 800 years of history in China and is typically used as a table grape, this light easy-drinking wine had crisp acidity and a pronounced lemony character.

Xiao Pu ‘Orange’ Chardonnay
Shangri-La, Yunnan

A well-balanced skin-contact wine made using fruit sourced from 2900 meters high in Yunnan’s mountains. One of my favorite developments of the past few years is the rise of ‘orange’ wines, including notable ones from Charme, Puchang and Canaan.

Grace Vineyard ‘Tasya’s Reserve’ Chardonnay
Taigu, Shanxi

A moderately buttery chardonnay with nice stone fruit flavors that inspired comparisons to Napa. Part of the Tasya’s Reserve series that includes Marselan, Aglianico, Cabernet Franc and more.

Canaan ‘Mastery’ Pinot Noir
Huailai, Hebei

A supple, fruity and slightly toasty wine with elegant red fruit made just outside Beijing. This was my first-ever million-point wine. And one of my top-three pairings for the Beijing duck.

Beyond Time Syrah
Qingtongxia, Ningxia

Vibrant and juicy with violets, ripe dark berries and a touch of pepper. Electric purple power that went amazingly well with the Beijing duck..

Lansai Marselan
Yinchuan, Ningxia

A good example of the supple dark-fruited soft-tannin wines that are possible with this grape, and that are often appreciated by wine newcomers, with an edge of elegance and complexity to boot.

Mountain Wave ‘PMM’
Yinchuan, Ningxia

PMM standards for Pinot Noir, Malbec and Marselan, the three grapes found — to the surprise of many — in Mountain Wave’s vineyards. Blended to leverage the aroma, flavor and structure of this trio. This is the fourth time I’ve opened a PMM, always with a good response.

Nine Peaks Cabernet Gernischt
Laixi, Shandong

Considered another signature grape of China as it was apparently brought to Shandong during the 1890s with the founding of Shandong. At least some grapes labeled as Gernischt have turned out to be Carmenere. Versions like this one by Nine Peaks have avoided the greenness found year ago with many of these wines.

Kanaan ‘Black Beauty’
Yinchuan, Ningxia

A representative of the oaky Cabernet-driven wines that helped put China on the map. Ripe and rich, it is well-made, and a crowd-pleaser for those into this style.

The attendees provided a lot of feedback on the wines, especially Rick Bayless, who methodically worked through the wines, re-tasting some of them, and providing insights, from the uniqueness of the PMM to the variety specificity of the Marselan to the vibrancy of that Syrah, and more.

I also arranged for three wines for the team’s visit to Shanghai.

Lingering Clouds Longjing-infused Chardonnay Pet-nat
Yinchuan, Ningxia

I picked this one as Long Jing tea is associated with Hangzhou, which is fairly close to Shanghai. And because Long Jing translates as Dragon Well and we were in the midst of the Year of the Dragon holidays. I opened a handful of these tea-infused wines over the holidays and they are crowd-pleasers.

Puchang Rkatsiteli
Turpan, Xinjiang

A crisp fresh wine made with a Georgian variety that came to China in the 1950s when the USSR was still an entity. Puchang’s Rkatsiteli ranked number three in Shuai Zekun’s China Top 100 list last year.

Xiao Pu ‘The Gathering’
Ningxia

A medium-bodied blend—Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Marselan—with soft tannins and wide consumer appeal. You can find this one in many wines bars.

That feels like a pretty adventurous lineup, covering China’s major regions and a good number of grape varieties and wine styles! And it is notable that five of these wines are made by people who have neither winery nor vineyards, but instead source grapes, rent equipment and built their own brands.

More on Generation Z and wine soon.

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