By Jim Boyce | It’s mind-blowing how one taste can trigger our primal, sentimental and intellectual senses. Last week, the briny Pacific tang of a Sun Seeker oyster pried open the ancient hollow of my brain that echoes with the era Paleozoic when our ancestors swam the saline seas. That salty-metallic liquor mesmerized me.

Then I tried the pairing wine, an apple-scented Josmeyer Pinot Grigio from Alsace. It washed over my taste buds, then tossed my mind forward 500 million years to a childhood memory. Of my father rotating paring knife against apple so the skin fell away in one corkscrew-shaped peel. He then sliced off a piece of fruit, impaled it on his blade, added a touch of salt, ate it, and repeated. Apple, salt, apple, salt, oyster, wine, Sun Seeker, Pinot Grigio.

In turn, that apple image fired my critical thinking neurons and shifted the focus to the wine. Was its apple-ness more crisp and juicy or soft and creamy? Where did it fall between the poles of sweet and sour? And what variety did it evoke? Was it Gala? Granny Smith? Golden Russet? Golden Delicious? Or–

Finally, my mind went to a second memory. It’s Christmas and my mother is recalling apple varieties grown on her family’s farm a half-century ago. Apples for baking. Apples for preserving. Apples fit for horses. Apples you might simply pick and munch while surveying the orchard. She listed thirteen kinds.

All of this unexpected mental activity, squeezed into a minute or two, was inspired by a single oyster and wine pairing. And that was but the first of nine bivalves on the plate.

The event was led by sommelier / consultant Li Meiyu for Oyster Talks, a restaurant that opened in 2013 in Workers Stadium in Beijing. (The Hong Kong parent operation dates to 2002.) Li is best-known from Park Hyatt Hotel and as the winner of the China National Sommelier Competition in 2011. She partnered with Oyster Talks GM Miranda Li and chef Simon Chan on this project.

“This is just the beginning of pairing wines and oysters,” said Li. “It looks simple, but it’s quite complicated, because the flavors and textures of the oysters change by season.”

The Oyster Talks team tasted about 100 wines and sorted the worthy ones into nine menu categories with names like “fresh and crisp”, “creamy and buttery” and “complex and rich.”

For the tasting, we tried an example from each category, with oysters hailing from Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. I found the differences less noticeable than with the wines. My evaluations were limited to a dozen options or so, such as nutty, sweet, metallic, salty, very salty, super salty. Did everyone notice a cucumber flavor in that last oyster? I dunno. Maybe super salty cucumber?

The diversity of the wines made distinguishing them easier, from the crisp vegetal Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (Cirro) to the buttery Sonoma Chardonnay (Ramey) to, at least for me, the strange Koshu (Suntory) that earned “pizza herbs” as a tasting note.

My favorite pairing was the Wittmann Riesling Trocken from Germany with a Pacific oyster from Woodstown Bay Shellfish in Ireland. This crunchy oyster was briny, though milder than most, and slightly sweet. The lemon edge and zingy mineral finish of that Riesling was a nice fit.

Friends who have read this far are probably wondering if I have lost my mind. Because while I appreciate certain aspects of food and wine pairing, and equate it to, say, making dipping sauces at hotpot joints, I’ve also often said it smacks of bullshit.

The effort spent on pairing versus the number of people who care are at odds. Severely. And while the vintelligentsia love to say people should just drink what they like, wine pairing, depending on how it is presented, can turn off consumers who already find wine intimidating, and make them simply hope to get the “correct” combination. It really can go either way.

Anyway, once we finished our nine oysters, we received a few more to try with a trio of Champagnes, then tucked into some Wagyu beef. All good.

But it’s not what I’ll remember most. Prime storage space in my memory cellar is reserved for the experience, just a ten-minute walk from my home in central Beijing, of going on a half billion-year journey thanks to a Sun Seeker and a Pinot Grigio. That’s the kind of food and wine pairing no one can predict.

Note: Thanks to Oyster Talks for the invitation. And kudos to Li for the handy wine tasting cards and (below) the full menu of oysters and wines.

A souvenir wine named ‘Double Seventy‘ officially launches today to mark the 70th anniversaries of the People’s Republic of China (1949) and State of Israel (1948).

The grapes, picked in 2016, hail from just outside Beijing at Amethyst Manor. Winemakers Wang Zhu from Amethyst and Arkadi Papikian from Israel worked together on a final blend of Merlot (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%) and Marselan (25%).

“These grapes represent both the ‘new’ and ‘old’ worlds. Cabernet and Merlot are typical for Bordeaux, while Marselan is a quite new and promising grape, including in China. Marselan is also grown in Israel,” said Ma Huiqin, a China Agricultural University professor who helped connect the parties involved.

“It’s quite full-bodied, it’s a big wine,” she said. “The wine is still quite tight and needs time to relax, so decanting it is a good idea.”

‘Double Seventy’ was aged 24 months in new Hungarian and French oak, and bottled in two batches, one with a black label and one with a white label, with info about the wines, in Chinese and English, on the back.

Ma studied at Hebrew University of Jerusalem twenty years ago and regularly visits Israel. She co-chaired, with Tal Gal-Cohen, an Israeli wine master class in Beijing in 2017. (Note: I helped to organize that event.)

By Jim Boyce | No country has shone like Australia this past decade when it comes to bottled wine imports in China. It has long held second position behind France while steadily closing the gap. It crushes Italy in terms of volume and Spain for value. In fact, Australia wine easily has the highest declared value per bottle of all major sources. How has this happened?

I recently explained, in this Wine Searcher article, ten reasons for the numbers. Everything from the appealing “bottled sunshine” nature of many Down Under wines to the Australia-China free trade deal to the decades-old promotion strategies of industry and government. There is the issue of food safety and of high-flying brands—Penfolds, naturally—too.

But not all the roses are red. (Sorry, it’s Valentine’s Day.) There are also issues of how much Australian wine is imported versus how much is sold. And of the role that Chinese investors, in search of Australian residency, play in buoying the numbers.

For the full story, including quotes from Alberto Fernandez, Frank Pan, Jim Sun, Peter Dixon, Andrew Caillard and more, see here.

“Fake wine” and “China” tend to evoke images of Lafite and Penfolds knockoffs, of labels that borrow a world of spellings and fonts, castles and chateaux. But much less common is recognition that local producers face fakes, too. I recently wrote about this situation for Wine Searcher.

The article looked at major police raids in China, which often find copies of mega-brands such as Changyu and Great Wall. (As one newspaper noted: “At some wineries, CCTV reporters found workers filling hundreds of bottles with bogus wine under the very surveillance cameras supposed to be connected to the country’s quality watchdog agency.”) But small- and medium-sized operations are also at risk. An excerpt from the story:

Hansen is a medium-sized producer focused almost entirely on its home province of Inner Mongolia. Five years ago, chief winemaker Bruno Paumard told me the company introduced bottles embossed with Hansen’s logo to slow down counterfeiters. But slowing is not stopping.

“We regularly find [fake Hansen] in little shops in Inner Mongolia,” he recently said. “They copy the labels and caps and use their own bottles. It’s wine with water; very oxidized and very bad.”

So why isn’t the industry at large doing more to stop this, especially given the authorities are willing to raid? One problem is consumers already lack faith in local wines, without the issue of fakes making it even worse. For more on this, read the full Wine Searcher article here.

By Jim Boyce | Say “bulk wine” and people instantly think quantity over quality. But there’s far more to it, says Jörg Philipp, who will help World Bulk Wine Exhibition (WBWE) organize its first show in China, and 11th overall, on May 30 and 31 in Yantai, Shandong, a province whose ports have seen no shortage of wine pass through. I talked to Phillip, the WBWE rep for China, about the event and bulk wine in general.

Grape Wall: Why China now? And where does it rank as a bulk wine player?

Jörg Philipp: The process to go to China was a long one. It took two years of research and preparation to finally make a decision. The market there is important and changing fast and we want to make it easier for buyers in China to access bulk wine. China ranks number five now and will soon rank in the top three as a bulk wine importer.

People often equate bulk with low quality or at least with wine that producers deem unworthy to bottle. Does perception match reality?

Bulk wine was a hidden business until ten years ago, with agents, big buyers and brands ruling. Things started changing about five years ago. As the market became more transparent, bulk wine had to increase in quality. To make bulk wine itself is in many cases a specialization and this separates production from distribution.

This also says nothing of quality. Bulk wine producers sometimes have less wine to sell than many big famous wineries. It is true that if buyers are looking for entry wines, they will receive varying qualities. But an interesting trend now is high quality bulk wine. That is evidence the market for own brands and private labels is booming.

One irony in China is local wines are winning many medals and kudos but losing market share to imports, including bulk. How to explain why bulk wine maintains such appeal in China?

Bulk wine often provides the flexibility in quality and price that clients seek. This means today wines from Chile are interesting and tomorrow from Spain. Harvests vary around the world every year.

With respect to China I see the price level as a difficult challenge. Even within China, wine transport is long and expensive, while most of the big players buying bulk wine are near ports and can easily receive cost efficient wine by ship.

Shipping wine in bulk has benefits like maintaining consistency and lowering transport costs and carbon footprints. To what degree are these considerations for buyers?

If bulk wine is handled in a proper way the flavor will stay consistent, as from production to the bottling point there is no air impact. For places with a high awareness of environmental impact, such as Switzerland, Germany and Scandinavian, the low carbon footprint is very important.

For many buyers the cost point is more important, especially if you can also get better prices for bottles, labels and closures at the destination. You also save money because you move less weight and volume.

How will the WBWE in China differ from past exhibitions?

WBWE China will start from scratch. Neither the market nor the business habits are comparable with the other WBWE editions, including the upcoming one in Amsterdam. That means it will be an enormous challenge for the team in China. We will make a unique exhibition, using the professional knowledge we have gained during 10 years in Europe and in respect to Chinese culture.

I’ll have more about WBWE and other bulk wine news shortly!

By Jim Boyce | Based in the southern city of Nanning, Julien Boulard steadily became a force in China’s wine scene this past decade as head of Zhulian Wines, as a social media presence, and as a tutor and judge who travels across the country. Boulard, with credentials from WSET and the Court of Master Sommeliers, is also in the Master of Wine stream. And he just hosted a tasting of 1998 Bordeaux with wine writer Andrew Jefford. Grape Wall took that opportunity to ask him about the tasting, the wine scene in Nanning, and more.

A lot of China wine talk focuses on cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. What’s Nanning like?

Indeed, Nanning is one of these so-called “second-tier”, if not “third-tier”, cities with a population of “only” six million. It is a fast-growing city but far behind the metropolises you mentioned in terms of economic significance.

Still, located in the far south of the country, only two or three hours drive from the Vietnamese border, it is a place where life is peaceful, where people don’t seem to be constantly running like in Shanghai or Shenzhen. In short, a place where you can relax and really enjoy a bottle of wine with friends. They won’t be stuck in traffic for two hours before joining you, either!

What do people tend to drink?

Being a relatively hot place, people tend to drink quite a lot of beer in Nanning. Some people drink baijiu, too, but it doesn’t seem as important as in the northern provinces. Wine is mainly consumed by middle-class Generation Xers and Millennials, especially those with a strong interest in Western culture.

How easy is it to get good wine?

I’ve always been surprised at how many wine shops there are in Nanning. Hundreds of them! However, their selection is rarely exciting, mainly entry-level, bulk stuff or big names such as the ubiquitous Penfolds. The advanced wine lovers thus tend to buy their wines on-line or directly from importers located in Shanghai or Guangzhou.

You recently teamed up with Andrew Jefford for a 1998 Bordeaux wine dinner. How did that come about?

I chose this vintage because I found that wine lovers in China don’t have many opportunities to taste the best Bordeaux wines side by side and at their organoleptic apogee. Most professionals go to the UGCB [Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux] annual roadshow across China’s main cities, but they only can compare wines which are three years old.

I thus thought that organising a twenty years retrospective focusing on the best of the best from Bordeaux could be interesting and exciting. Moreover, France won its first football World Cup in 1998 and the second one in 2018! What a great way to celebrate! But more seriously, I’m thinking of organising this 20-year retrospective annually, starting with a 1999 vintage tasting next year.

What typifies that vintage? How did you pick the order?

1998 was a great vintage in Bordeaux, even considered outstanding on the Right Bank. And the great thing about such a tasting is that it makes you realize how this kind of broad statement can be prejudicial for the sub-regions deemed “inferior”!

Although it is true that the five wines from the Right Bank—Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Angélus, Pavie and Pétrus—showed more consistency across the flight, Lafite-Rothschild and Haut-Brion were among my top four, if not top three, and most participants agreed on that. 1998 was just a great vintage across the region!

Regarding the order, considering wines from the Right Bank were supposed to be the highlight of the evening, and also because they tend to be richer than those from the western part, we decided to start with the Left Bank, going north to south. This allowed us to compare side-by-side the three wineries from Pauillac—Mouton, Lafite and Latour—and then look for the stylistic differences with Margaux and Haut-Brion.

We then went to the Right Bank with the two new 1er Crus Classés “A”, Angélus and Pavie, the two historical first growths, Ausone and Cheval Blanc, and then Pétrus, which is often the most powerful of all. And, of course, we finished with a magnificent Yquem 1998.

How did people react?

Participants really loved it! Especially that there were only ten of them at each tasting! Together with Andrew and myself, that was twelve people, allowing us not to only “taste” the wines, but really to “drink” and enjoy them!

You’ve met lots of new wine consumers over the years. Many trade people think the Cabernet-heavy strategy of China’s producers isn’t the best match for consumers at large. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Well, I tend to think that consumers do like Cabernet Sauvignon, at least the name or idea of it, and thus it helps to sell the wines. Therefore, from a market perspective, there’s nothing wrong with it.

However, I do think that China would produce better wines if producers wouldn’t solely, or mainly, focus on Cabernet. For instance, Marselan shows very promising results in many regions, and I’ve had some very nice Syrah.

I’m not convinced that Cabernet Sauvignon is the best choice for most wine-producing regions in China. Wineries and local governments want to reproduce Bordeaux’s success story, I understand that, but they neglect the fact that the success of Bordeaux isn’t built on Cabernet Sauvignon, but on the symbiosis between Cabernet Sauvignon and the terroir of Bordeaux! More experiments should be conducted to find the ideal match between grape varieties and their terroir.

We are seeing lots of economic growth beyond the so-called “first tier” cities. What kind of opportunities are there for wine in a city like Nanning? If someone wants to enter that market, what do they need to do?

Indeed, China isn’t only about Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen! Greater Nanning might seem substantial with 6.5 million inhabitants, but it is only about the fiftieth biggest city in China.

It’s easy to understand that while wine consumers only represent a very small proportion, the absolute numbers suggest even a “small percentage” could mean a “huge market”. Still, I don’t think the biggest market has been unearthed yet: only a fraction of the people who have the financial means to buy wine actually consume it. Most of them feel intimidated by wine.

I remember a family dinner for Chinese New Year. Someone asked what should we drink with the food? I offered to drink wine. But the same person responded: “Wine? That’s too complicated! What about some beer?”

On that particular day, I realized how frightening wine could be for the Chinese middle class. It’s sometimes a matter of money or taste, but I think the images associated with wine are also a big issue. Just ask people what scene they associate with a bottle of wine? Then ask them to do the same exercise with a bottle of beer. I guess the second scene would be much more convivial!

The market of “actual wine drinkers” is almost saturated, thus if someone wants to enter a market like Nanning, he or she should be prepared to work on unearthing the “potential wine drinkers”. This involves being based on the spot and investing a lot on brand promotion, especially via tastings. Of course, you can still find a strong local distributor and then visit to host a tasting or two every year. But unless you’re Penfolds or Lafite, I’m afraid you won’t sell hundreds of cases.

By Jim Boyce | Alberto Pascual of Spanish wine importer Pasion violates a slew of my social media post rules. He uses multiple exclamation marks!!!! Multiple smiley faces. And is a BIG FAN OF ALL CAPS and… … …ellipses. This stuff usually drives me crazy, but in the case of Pascual, I can’t help but read.

Pascual’s posts are intense, powerful, detailed. Robert Parker might call them hedonistic. (If he did, Pascual would only mention it if Parker gave Pasion at least a 90-point score.)

Pascual backs up the prose with images of wines, wineries and winemakers, with screen shots of descriptions, scores and rankings.

The wines live up to the hype, too, at least in my experience. The entry-level ones are good value for money, the rarer ones are superb. In the fight to promote Spain in China as a quality wine producer, Pascual ranks among those who are taking the bull by the horns.

(My most vivid memory of Pascual is from Temple Restaurant Beijing. I was there for a TV segment and saw Pascual in a private room doing a tasting with the staff. Shirt unbuttoned, hair wild, eyes adamant that his wines were excellent. The TV crew interviewed him on the spot. In a wine world where “passion” is sorely over-used, it truly fits Pascual.)

When looking at his posts, it’s hard to decide which ones are best, so here are the most recent four, lightly edited.

“A bomb is coming!! If you tried and you loved SAN ROMAN you will be very glad to hear that the top wine, a single vineyard wine with a production of 3900 bottles a year CARTAGO paraje del pozo is coming to China for the first time. A wine aged 3 YEARS IN OAK BARRELS!!! 90% tinta de toro and 10% of other varieties to provide this world class wine a lot of elegance and complexity. Last year SAN ROMAN was 18th best wine in the world by WINE ENTHUSIAST, 26th best wine in the world by WINE SPECTATOR… probably the best winery in TORO and made by MARIANO GARCIA and his sons EDUARDO & ALBERTO. It’s coming!!!!”

“Stay tuned!!! La GALIA by probably the best vigneron in DUERO area, JEROME BOUGNAUD (vigneron all time at the greatest PINGUS and also vigneron and winemaker in QUINTA SARDONIA) is coming like the masterpiece of one of the greatest names in the wine industry in Spain “THE DUERO VALLEY AS A WHOLE”. 3 wines with productions of 758 bottles, 1073 bottles and 14,559 bottles. Ultra-refined tannins and incredible freshness, balance… these are the masterpieces of a great friend, person and one of the best vignerons you can find… Biodynamic treatments for 3 world class wines… very soon in CHINA. Stay tuned because productions are very limited… the elegance of the DUERO finally in BEIJING and SHANGHAI.”

“Icon wineries in each part of Spain: Cava as one of the top 4 (recaredo, gramona, agusti torello and raventos i blanc), probably the best albariño ever (Raul was the first to put albariño under the sea and now everyone wanna do the same), MENCIA with el pecado in RIBEIRA SACRA, the origin of one area (here started the legend, the history), GRENACHE in its pure expression with Alto Moncayo, a TEMPRANILLO in RIBERA DE DUERO with a very top wine by probably the most international wine maker from Spain MARIANO GARCIA, and a PEDRO XIMENEZ from Andalucia vintage 1987. Different grapes, different areas, masterpieces made by geniuses in Spain and paired with master food. Another crazy nite, why not???!!!”

“Here is where is made one of the best wines in the world, the best ever PEDRO XIMENEZ made in history: TORO ALBALA CONVENTO MADERA VINTAGE 1946, 100 points PARKER, 100 points BETTANE AND DESSEAUVE (best wine of the year in 2016). A masterpiece, an art piece, a gem made to survive forever and ever. One of the greatest wines made in history, just were made 825 bottles for all the world and we imported 300 bottles for China. Now a few bottles left, a treasure, something extraordinary, a gift forever like a piece of art…. very proud to have this jewel, something unique, touching perfection.”

I don’t know about you but I want to DRINK SPANISH WINE RIGHT NOW!!! You can learn more about Pasion, started by Pascual in 2010 with wines from his region of Spain and then expanding to labels from around the country, at the official site here.