On March 13, a dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 23 red wines that retail for less than RMB100 in China (see gallery). The experts rated each out of 20 points, while the consumers had four choices – “love it“, “like it“, “dislike it” or “hate it“. The wines were from France (6), Chile (5), Argentina (4), South Africa (3), Australia (2), the United States (1), Spain (1), and Italy (1). Cedar Creek Shiraz (Australia), distributed by Top Cellar, took top honors.

Here are “top tens” of the expert panel, the consumer panel, and the combined panel.

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EXPERT PANEL: Top 10 Red Wines

1

Cedar Creek (Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Australia / Top Cellar, RMB92

2

Callia Alta (Shiraz, Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Torres, RMB72

3

Santa Carolina (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2007, Chile / Aussino, RMB98

4

Las Condes (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Chile / EMW, RMB86

5 (tie)

Leopard’s Leap: The Lookout (Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cinsault) 2006, South Africa / Aussino, RMB95

Concha y Toro Frontera (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Chile / Summergate, RMB79

7

Michel Torino (Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Palette, RMB98

8

Domaine du Landeyran AOC St. Chinian (Grenache, Syrah) 2005, France / BJ Winestore, RMB85

9

Foot of Africa (Pinotage) 2006, South Africa / Torres, RMB99

Catena “Retamo” (Bonarda, Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Summergate, RMB89

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CONSUMER PANEL: Top 10 Red Wines

1

Foot of Africa (Pinotage) 2006, South Africa / Torres, RMB99

Paso del Sol (Merlot) 2007, Chile / DT Asia, RMB95

3 (tie)

Callia Alta (Shiraz, Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Torres, RMB72

4 (tie)

Trapiche (Pinot Noir) 2007, Argentina / Links, RMB95

Domaine du Landeyran AOC St.Chinian (Grenache, Syrah) 2005, France / BJ Winestore, RMB85

Senorio de Alange (Tempranillo) 2005, Spain / Palette, RMB79

Concha y Toro Frontera (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Chile / Summergate, RMB79

Cedar Creek (Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Australia / Top Cellar, RMB92

Michel Torino (Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Palette, RMB98

10 (tie)

Rutherglen Estate Big Red (Shiraz Durif) 2006, Australia / Gelipu, RMB89

Domaine de Sarret (Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah), non-vintage, France / DCT, RMB83

Santa Carolina (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2007, Chile / Aussino, RMB98

Chateau St. Pierre (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2007, United States / ASC, RMB74

Catena “Retamo” (Bonarda, Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Summergate, RMB89

Leopard’s Leap: The Lookout (Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cinsault) 2006, South Africa / Aussino, RMB95

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COMBINED PANELS: Overall Top Ten Red Wines

1

Cedar Creek (Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Australia / Top Cellar, RMB92

2

Callia Alta (Shiraz, Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Torres, RMB72

3

Foot of Africa (Pinotage) 2006, South Africa / Torres, RMB99

4

Paso del Sol (Merlot) 2007, Chile / DT Asia, RMB95

5

Concha y Toro Frontera (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Chile / Summergate, RMB79

6

Michel Torino (Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Palette, RMB98

7

Domaine du Landeyran AOC St.Chinian (Grenache, Syrah) 2005, France / BJ Winestore, RMB85

8

Santa Carolina (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2007, Chile / Aussino, RMB98

9

Senorio de Alange (Tempranillo) 2005, Spain / Palette, RMB79

10

Leopard’s Leap: The Lookout (Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cinsault) 2006, South Africa / Aussino, RMB95

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See also:

• Grape Wall Challenge: Top white wines in China under RMB100
• Grape Wall Challenge: Top red wines in China under RMB100
• Grape Wall Challenge: Expert panel
• Grape Wall Challenge: Consumer panel – white wine
• Grape Wall Challenge: Consumer panel – red wines
• Grape Wall Challenge: Photo gallery
• Grape Wall Challenge: List of posts

On March 13, a dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 21 white wines that retail for less than RMB100 in China (see gallery). It was a close finish for best white wine among the experts, who rated each one out of 20 points, while a clear winner emerged among the consumers, who had four choices: “love it“, “like it“, “dislike it” or “hate it“. Overall, Zonin Terre Palladiane Soave, distributed by Torres China, took top honors.

The wines were from Chile (8), France (4), Italy (4), Australia (3), Argentina (1) and Spain (1). Here are “top tens” of the expert panel, the consumer panel, and the combined panel. (Lists of the top ten red wines will be up by 3 PM.)

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EXPERT PANEL: Top 10 White Wines

1 (tie)

Concha y Toro Frontera (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Summergate, RMB79
Bushman’s Gully (Semillon, Chardonnay) 2008, Australia / Links, RMB92

3

Stella Solaris (Chardonnay) 2006, Chile / Top Cellar, RMB62

4

Heartland Stickleback White (Chardonnay, Verdelho, Semillon) 2006, Australia / Palette, RMB99

5

Zonin Terre Palladiane Soave DOC (Garganega, Trebbiano) 2007, Italy / Torres, RMB96

6 (tie)

Chateau Roque-Peyre AOC (Montravel Sauvignon-Semillon) 2007, France / BJ Winestore, RMB89
French Paradox Reserve (Viognier) 2006, France / French Wine Paradox, RMB90

8

San Medin (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Torres, RMB91

9

Santa Rita 120 (Sauvignon Blanc) 2008, Chile / ASC, RMB93

10 (tie)

Farnese Primo Malvasia IGT (Malvasia) 2007, Italy / ASC, RMB92
Santa Helena Reserva (Chardonnay) 2005, Chile / Links, RMB96

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CONSUMER PANEL: Overall Top 10 White Wines

1

Zonin Terre Palladiane Soave DOC (Garganega, Trebbiano) 2007, Italy / Torres, RMB96

2 (tie)

Farnese Primo Malvasia IGT (Malvasia) 2007, Italy / ASC, RMB92
Bushman’s Gully (Semillon, Chardonnay) 2008, Australia / Links, RMB92

4 (tie)

Santa Rita 120 (Sauvignon Blanc) 2008, Chile / ASC, RMB93
Santa Helena Reserva (Chardonnay) 2005, Chile / Links, RMB96

6 (tie)

Stella Solaris (Chardonnay) 2006, Chile / Top Cellar, RMB62
San Medin (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Torres, RMB91
Santa Carolina (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Aussino, RMB98

9 (tie)

Concha y Toro Frontera (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Summergate, RMB79
Chateau Roque-Peyre AOC (Montravel Sauvignon-Semillon) 2007, France / BJ Winestore, RMB89

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COMBINED PANELS: Overall Top 10 White Wines

1

Zonin Terre Palladiane Soave DOC (Garganega, Trebbiano) 2007, Italy / Torres, RMB96

2

Bushman’s Gully (Semillon, Chardonnay) 2008, Australia / Links, RMB92

3

Farmese Primo Malvasia IGT (Malvasia) 2007, Italy / ASC, RMB92

4

Stella Solaris (Chardonnay) 2006, Chile / Top Cellar, RMB62

5

Santa Rita 120 (Sauvignon Blanc) 2008, Chile / ASC, RMB93

6

Santa Helena Reserva (Chardonnay) 2005, Chile / Links, RMB96

7 (tie)

Concha y Toro Frontera (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Summergate, RMB79
San Medin (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Torres, RMB91

9

Chateau Roque-Peyre AOC (Montravel Sauvignon-Semillon) 2007, France / BJ Winestore, RMB89

10

French Paradox Reserve (Viognier) 2006, France / French Wine Paradox, RMB90

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See also:

• Grape Wall Challenge: Top white wines in China under RMB100
• Grape Wall Challenge: Top red wines in China under RMB100
• Grape Wall Challenge: Expert panel
• Grape Wall Challenge: Consumer panel – white wine
• Grape Wall Challenge: Consumer panel – red wines
• Grape Wall Challenge: Photo gallery
• Grape Wall Challenge: List of posts

The Grape Wall Challenge last Friday in Beijing brought together 18 judges to taste wines that retail in China for under RMB100 (see gallery below). The challenge was a first in that it was organized by a blog, saw half of the judging done by consumers, and included  Chinese citizens as 16 of 18 judges. (They hailed from Anhui, Beijing, Hebei, Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Sichuan, and Tianjin.) It aimed to find good but affordable wines and to  involve consumers in the process.

During the morning, the expert and consumer panels judged 21 whites wines; the afternoon saw a fresh panel of consumers join the experts to try 23 red wines. The wines hailed from Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and the United States, as submitted by 14 wine importers and distributors in China. The distributors were ASC, Aussino, BJ Winestore, DCT, DT Asia, East Meets West, French Wine Paradox, Gelipu, Label France, Links, Palette, Summergate, Top Cellar, and Torres.

The results of the white wine panels will be released at ~1 PM today, with the results of the red wine panels coming at ~3 PM. During the week, we will list the top three picks of each judge.

The sponsors of the Grape Wall Challenge are Maxim’s Solana, Pro-Wine Consulting, and Winpact, which provided gifts for the judges. Special mention goes to the following who either gave or pledged their time or money (RMB200 each) to help support the event: Steven Schwankert (SinoScuba), KS, Paul Adkins, Badr Benjelloun, Chandler Jurinka (Local Noodles), Elisabeth Tchoudjinoff, and Tim Zhang.

Last but not least, the following judges gave their time for the event (click the links for more details):

• Expert panel: Demei LI, Huiqin MA, Yiftach BAR, Yang JIN, Carol GAO, and Alex ZHAO
• Consumer panel (white wine): Huihui ‘Grace’ SUN, Guomei ‘Natalie’ LIANG, Yu WANG, Chuan LEI, Ying ‘Jane’ ZHANG, Leo ZENG, and Tao ‘Mario’ YUAN.
• Consumer panel (red wine): Brian YAO, Frank SIEGEL, Ivy LIU, Weiguo KONG, Yu WANG, and Miao WONG.

The Grape Wall Challenge directors were Nicolas Carre, Frankie Zhao, and Jim Boyce. They jointly tabulated the scores.

Look for future posts about the biggest challenges of putting on such a contest, about what went right and what could be improved, and about an upcoming Grape Wall Challenge (boutique Chinese wines anyone?). We will also work with interested participating distributors to hold a public tasting of these same wines. We plan to call it “You be the judge.“

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See also:

• Grape Wall Challenge: Top white wines in China under RMB100
• Grape Wall Challenge: Top red wines in China under RMB100
• Grape Wall Challenge: Expert panel
• Grape Wall Challenge: Consumer panel – white wine
• Grape Wall Challenge: Consumer panel – red wines
• Grape Wall Challenge: Photo gallery
• Grape Wall Challenge: List of posts

The afternoon session of The Grape Wall Challenge will feature red wines. Here is a list of the six people on the consumer panel. They will get the wines in flights of ten and are being asked to judge each wine as “I love it,” “I like it,” “I dislike it,” or “I hate it. (See here for a list of judges on the expert panel.)

Brian YAO, Hubei
A 20-year veteran of the IT/Telecom industry, Yao became interested in wine about 18 months ago and regularly attends tastings in Beijing.

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Frank SIEGEL, United States
Siegel has hosted wine tastings at his Sequoia Cafe for several years and praises Beijing for offering a wide range of wines from around the world.

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Ivy LIU, Sichuan
Liu became interested in wine when the PR firm where she works assigned a Chinese wine producer as her client.

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Weiguo KONG, Shandong
Employed at a grape research institute in Shandong, Wei spends far more time studying than drinking wine. He writes a blog about wine.

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Yu WANG, Beijing
Wang started to learn about wine in 2006 as a student at Beijing Agriculture College. He is vice president of the school’s wine lovers club and drinks wine about once per week.

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Miao WONG, Jilin
Wong manages Acupuncture Records and occasionally drinks wine, including a glass or two at home after a particularly stressful night of work.

The morning session of the first Grape Wall Challenge started 15 minutes ago. Here is a list of the six people on the consumer panel. They will get the wines in flights of ten and are being asked to judge each wine as “I love it,” “I like it,” “I dislike it,” or “I hate it.” (See here for a list of judges on the expert panel.)

Huihui ‘Grace’ SUN, Shandong
Sun is a master student in microbiology at China Agricultural University and a teaching assistant who helps with tastings held in the school’s wine appreciation course.

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Guomei ‘Natalie’ LIANG, Tianjin
Employed at a private club, Liang became seriously interested in wine at age 24 and has experimented with making small batches of wine.

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Chuan LEI, Liaoning
Chuan became interested in wine while living in France for 18 months. She became a Challenge judge after winning a contest on China Radio International’s Beyond Beijing program.

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Ying ‘Jane’ ZHANG, Anhui
A Beijing resident for 20 years, Zhang is a graphic designer at an advertising company. She has been trying wine for about two years, mainly on Friday nights at Sequoia Café.

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Leo ZENG, Hubei
Zeng is the head waiter at Café Europa. His wine experience comes from assisting with tastings at the restaurant.

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Tao ‘Mario’ YUAN, Hubei
Yuan is a bartender at the bar and lounge Stumble Inn and previously worked at the bar Aperitivo.

The judges are confirmed, the bottles are ready, and the 24-hour countdown is on for the Grape Wall Challenge, a contest to be held tomorrow to judge wines that retail in China for less than RMB100.

We’ll have two groups of judges – experts and consumers – sniffing, sipping, savoring, and scoring during the day to help find inexpensive but good wines, an especially worthy endeavor given the economic crisis.

This is NOT a public event – it is limited to the judges, staff at Maxim’s Solana, and the media. But we will work with interested participating wine distributors to hold a public tasting of these same wines in April.

I will post the list of consumer judges tomorrow on www.grapewallofchina.com just before they head to the tasting room. I will also – Internet connection willing – provide updates during the day via my twitter account. And we will release lists of the top-scoring white and red wines, as picked by experts and consumers, on Monday.

I have organized this event with Nicolas Carre (Maxim’s Solana) and Frankie Zhao (Pro-Wine Consulting). Special thanks to Winpact for providing gifts for the judges. Thanks also to those readers who have given RMB200 each to cover the costs of posters, design, and so on for this contest. I will have a full list of these contributors on Monday (we’re looking for a few more, so if interested, please email me at beijingboyce (a) yahoo.com. Due to conflict of interest issues, we cannot accept contributions from wine distributors or bar or restaurant owners).

The Grape Wall Challenge is this Friday in Maxim’s Solana and we have 18 judges coming to taste ~60 wines that retail for less than RMB100. The wines come from 20 China-based distributors.

(Note: This is NOT a public event. It is limited to the judges, the Challenge directors, the media, and Maxim’s employees. We will  work with interested distributors to do a public tasting of these same wines. Details to come.)

Here is a list of judges on our expert wine panel. We will also have two “consumer” panels – one for white wines, one for red – of six judges each. As mentioned earlier, at least 75 percent of the judges will be Chinese citizens (see more details here: 中文, English, or Francais).

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Li Demei, Shandong
A graduate of ENITA in Bordeaux, Li is secretary of the China Viticulture & Enology Association. As a wine maker, he is closely associated with Sino-French Demonstration Vineyard. He also consults and writes about wine and teaches a wine appreciation course to university students in Beijing.

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Huiqin Ma, Hebei
A professor at China Agricultural University and leader of its grape and wine research group, Ma studied at the Institute for Wine Biotechnology in South Africa’s Stellenbosch University. She is vice general secretary of the Chinese Society for Viticulture (CSV) and has taught a wine appreciation course to Chinese university students for a decade.

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Yiftach Bar, Israel
Employed at the Beijing branch of Crown Wine Cellars, Bar is in charge of developing its wine storage facilities and club. He grew up with a wine-making grandfather and spent six years in France studying viticulture and wine making in Montpellier, France, and has made wines in the south of France and Tuscany.

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Jin Yang, Hebei
Yang studied wine in France for five years at the Ecole Nationale d’Ingenieurs des Travaux Agricoles and the Institut des Sciences de la Nature et de l’Agroalimentaire, both in Bordeaux. He is involved in wine education in Beijing.

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Carol Gao, Beijing
Gao is the manager of Aria restaurant in the China World Hotel. She holds a Level 2 certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET).

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Alex Zhao, Beijing
Holder of a WSET Level 2 certificate, Zhao most recently worked in the wine section at Shangri-la Hotel’s Blu Lobster restaurant. He has taken wine tours of Spain and Italy.

Today at 4 PM is the deadline to enter our “You Be the Judge“  contest with the Beyond Beijing program at China Radio International.

In short, we are looking for a Chinese consumer to sit on a panel with five other local consumers in our Grape Wall Wine Challenge, to be held on March 13 at Maxim’s Solana.

The winner will spend the morning of March 13 trying two dozen white wines. The goal is to find the best ones that retail for less than RMB100. The winner will then join his or her fellow judges for a media lunch.

To join the contest, go to this thread or this thread and tell us a bit about your experiences with wine. Remember, you do not need to be an expert: we want to know what typical consumers think!

We will pick the winner just before 5 PM on today’s show.

For more details about The Grape Wall Challenge, see this series of posts.

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Grape Wall of China is teaming up with the Beyond Beijing program on China International Radio to find a judge for the Grape Wall Wine Challenge. We are looking for a Chinese consumer to sit on a panel with five others on March 13 at Maxim’s (Solana) and taste wines that retail for less than RMB100. The goal is for the group to pick a “top ten.”

To join the contest, go to either this thread or this thread and tell us a bit about your experiences with wine. During this Friday’s Beyond Beijing show, we will pick one person to join the panel.

The winner will then spend the morning of March 13 sniffing, sipping, savoring, and spitting two dozen white wines, and then join his or her fellow judges for a lunch with the media.

We are planning several more wine events that will feature both panels of foreigners and locals as well as a public tasting of some of the wines entered into the Grape Wall Challenge.

For more details about The Grape Wall Challenge, see this series of posts.

The Grape Wall Challenge, scheduled for March 13, now has a full slate of wines. Twenty distributors confirmed their participation, from the biggest companies to the smaller players, from those providing wines from many countries to those focusing on a single nation. The wines will hail from six countries: France, Italy, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, and Australia. The eighteen companies are (in order of signing up):

GELIPU
China Wines & Spirits
Links Concept
French Wine Paradox
DCT
Top Cellar
BJ Winestore
French Touch Int’l
Label France
Summergate
Torres China
East Meets West
ASC
DT Asia
Wine River
Beijing Museo
Palette Vino
Aussino
Jingjiehang
Beijing Panser

We will work with interested distributors on a second event, a public tasting in which consumers can try the wines entered in the Grape Wall Challenge and be their own judges. Finally, a list of judges on the expert panel will be posted here later in the week.

For more details about the Grape Wall Challenge, see here: 中文 / English / Francais. For more details on distributor participation, see here: 中文 / English / Francais.