1421 Wines are made in Xinjiang, bottled in Shandong and sold throughout China. The winery gets its name from a book that claims legendary Chinese admiral Zheng He set sail with a huge fleet in 1421 and discovered Australia, Antarctica, South America, North America, well, pretty much everything except Atlantis. This theory isn’t so much hotly disputed as it is dismissed by academics but it does make for an interesting brand.
Anyway, 1421 Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon come in three levels — Silver, Gold and Admiral’s Reserve — and the company held a tasting of those first two last week at Scarlett Bar in Hotel G in Beijing. (I like the retro decor, the three-sided bar and overall feel of this spot, not to mention the “classics” they screen. Where else in town can you enjoy some wine while watching — sound off — Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho?)
I go to a quite a few tastings where the crowd seems divided into those bored senseless and those trying to outdo each other with arcane wine information. At the 1421 tasting, I simply saw people trying four wines, talking about which ones they liked, and generally enjoying themselves. Good times.
Want a taste? 1421’s Randy Svenden says the wine is available in Beijing by the glass at Hotel G, Mokihi, Little Saigon and Raffles Hotel.
Carl Worker is not only the New Zealand ambassador for China but also a food and wine lover. The latter is no surprise given he is married to Connie Aldao: they met when he was stationed in Argentina and she was GM and head chef of Francis Mallmann 1884 Restaurant in Mendoza. In fact, Worker sees the two nations as compatible on wine terms, especially their signature reds (Pinot Noir and Malbec) and whites (Sauvignon Blanc and Torrontes). But when it comes down to business, the talk turns to New Zealand. Some excerpts from a recent exchange:
On New Zealand wine exports:
“The first thing to say is that we are duty free. We can go to anyone and say that, along with Chile, there is no 14 percent Customs duty on our wines. It’s very helpful.”
“When I went to Argentina in 2001, New Zealand’s total production of wine was 60 million liters. We drank 40 million liters and exported 20 million liters. Today, we produce about 200 million liters. We still drink 40 million liters but now we export 160 to 170 million liters.”
“A lot of our wine is Sauvignon Blanc, so we don’t need old vines for excellent quality. The quality is maintained despite the newness of the vines.”
“Many Chinese people don’t know much about New Zealand wines. Some who lived overseas know it but most don’t because until recently we didn’t have enough to sell. New Zealand wine is a very well-kept secret [in China] worth explaining. The New Zealand market is now focusing on China.”
On quality:
“There is nothing in the bottom half of the market. It’s simply not economical to make cheap wines in New Zealand. We start in the middle and go up from there. The Chinese market is very strong at the entry level and at the top. It is growing very fast at the middle level now but is still not big at this stage.”
“[New Zealand wine] is not cheap but it is still excellent value for money unlike wines from bigger and more complicated markets. I’d be surprised if people felt cheated or that they didn’t get value from New Zealand wines.”
On red versus white wine:
“The New Zealand wine industry is 75 percent white wine. Chinese exports are greater for red wine than white wine, last year it was about NZD15 million to NZD10 million, and we recognize that the buyer comes first and we respect that. But we are observing that more and more people, including younger women, find white wine more desirable.”
On grape varieties:
You talk to wine-savvy consumers about New Zealand wine and they all come up with, one, Sauvignon Blanc, and two, Pinot Noir. Pinor Noir is the Holy Grail, with very few places beyond Burgundy that have done it well, so we are very proud of this. But there are other excellent varietals and it would be an awful shame to only think of these two.”
If you look at Riesling, for example, we’re one of the countries outside of Germany keeping the flame alive for this grape. It is very inexpensive for what you get and goes from quite sweet to steely. Even cheap Rieslings can be better five years down the road.”
But on reds, our flagship is Pinot Noir. In the 30- to 60-dollar range, for wines of those quality in France, you would have to pay two, three or four times as much. They are not cheap but they are excellent, wines. We’ve expanded our Pinot Noir vineyards recently and some of the most exciting wines are made with younger grapes. You don’t get as much complexity but some of these only cost 20 dollars.”
New Zealand Shiraz is also coming through beautifully and is completely different from Australia. Lighter, smoother and peppier, all at the same time.”
We also have Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends. There is some beautiful Bordeaux that tends to be Merlot dominated. We don’t spend a lot of time promoting it globally because we have so much other good wine at accessible prices, but it you are a Bordeaux lover and spend some time in New Zealand, do go down to Hawke’s Bay and Waiheke Island . You will pay a little more but you get something different.”
On promotion:
“The winegrowers are taking people to New Zealand to see the wine, people who can influence and inform the market, and there is also a program to create good Chinese-language materials about New Zealand wine. There was also a program done for Chinese TV looking at a day in the life of three New Zealand wineries.”
“We also need to help wineries find distributors, to create good relations with upscale hotels, and to put New Zealand wines in sustainable positions. I believe New Zealand wine can walk the talk and that at every point is offers value. We should position our wine so we are not competing on price with cheaper producers. You have to show enormous respect: There are so many wealthy people in China who will pay and who want value for money.”
“One of the best organized events at our embassy was with one of our top wines, Craggy Range. Steve Smith is a talented winemaker and he led the tasting. We had four very good Bordeaux, including Lafite, with four very good New Zealand wines in a blind tasting. Lafite came out on top followed by three wines from New Zealand, including Craggy Range Quarry and Craggy Range Sophia, and it struck me they can do very well.*
On entertaining with wine:
I do a lot of entertaining because I do a lot of serious business. In the past, we used to do cocktails, then everyone would sit down to dinner. Now, I also like to kick off with a wine tasting. I have a map of New Zealand, and we come out with a tray of samples, and I talk about the wine and where it came from. Then we take away the empty glasses and bring back a tray of a new wine. I can go through three or four whites and three or four reds in a half hour. I find that Chinese people are hungry for information and I get a wonderful response. They see the maps, try the wines and by then everyone is a good mood. It promotes New Zealand and it shows respect for the guests.
–
* I was lucky enough to be at that 2010 tasting. The New Zealand wines were Craggy Range ‘Sophia’ 2007, Craggy Range ‘The Quarry’ 2007, Sacred Hill ‘Helmsman’ 2007 and Trinity Hill ‘The Gimblett’ 2007. The French wines were Chateau Lafite 2006, Chateau Pichon Baron 2006, Chateau La Gaffeliere 2005 and Cos d’Estournal 2005.
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I have heard such statements — based on the fact certain parts of China are at or near the same latitude as Bordeaux — about a billion times. It happened most recently in Xinjiang but I have heard it in Hebei, Shandong and Ningxia. I have also heard it here in Beijing in regard tothe vineyards within city limits.(Given this, maybe I can fill my tub with soil, plant some vines and create a Chinese alternative to Chateau Lafite.)
But it looks like the exclusivity of Bordeaux is being challenged when it comes to the promising wine region of Ningxia. According to a press release from Newswire Today (my highlights):
In the first-ever U.S. tasting, three esteemed bottlings of Chinese varietal wines received resounding approval from wine masters in Las Vegas. The wines are all produced in the Helan Shan Mountain Appellation in Ningxia, China. Known as the Napa Valley of China, Ningxia is fast becoming an internationally recognized source of fine grape-based wines.
Ningxia as the “Napa Valley of China”? That’s news to me. And probably to Ningxia, too. Just last year, the region commissioned an elaborate wine promotion video centered on an “ancient” tale about a God that drops two grapes from the heavens. One grape lands in Ningxia. Can you guess where the other lands? Hint: It ain’t Napa Valley.
Also, a Google search for “Napa Valley of China” turns up less than ten results. Two refer to Ningxia, though they link to the Newswire Today article. Others refer to the Huailai area just north of Beijing (“considered the ‘Bordeaux or Napa Valley of China”), to the Yanqing District in Beijing (“renowned oenologist and wine master Denis Dubourdieu… saw Royal Seal as having all tools and resources necessary to succeed and make Yanqing District the future ‘Napa Valley of China’) and, uh, Hangzhou (“we bused several hours to Hangzhou, dubbed the Napa Valley of China”).
Sorry Ningxia, it looks like Beijing is winning the “Napa Valley of China” sweepstakes. Though Shandong has complete control over Nava Valley.
As for the Las Vegas tasting, it featured wines from Dragon’s Hollow, Helan Qing Xue and Silver Heights. You can read more about it here.
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His name is Alejandro Benitez Ruiz, he works for Spanish wine operation Gonzalez Byass, and he was at tonight’s Wine Enthusiast tasting Hilton Beijing.
A venenciador is skilled at pouring sherry samples. He or she uses a one-meter-long instrument — called a venencia — that has a small cup on one end for gathering the sherry from the cask and a hook on the other to keep the tool from slipping past the user’s hands and to make it easy to hang up afterward. The ritual involves more than simply dipping the cup into a barrel. It also involves accurately pouring it into a glass, sometimes at an impressive distance from the cup, and then finishing without spilling.
These four photos show some of the steps in filling a glass with Croft Pale Cream Sherry. By the way, if you ever find yourself as such a tasting, I recommend finishing at this table, as a few quick full glasses of Sherry will make your wine note-taking pretty much illegible for the rest of the night.
A government crackdownon spending by officials. Reports from distributors that sales are tough. Widespread sentiment that warehouse shelves are creaking with the weight of unsold stock. Sounds like a wine market in trouble. So, naturally, the China Customs stats for the first half of 2013 show imports are… up?
Some might see this as evidence China is a bulletproof market. I’d caution against such a sentiment and instead suggest the bullet has yet to reach the target.
More imports do not mean more sales or, even less so, profits. And my best guess, based on talking to distributors and industry watchers, is that new importers – read: inexperienced ones – are still entering the market, that some imports might have been due –- I’m really not sure about this factor but it needs to be mentioned –- to fears China would put a tariff on European wine, and that some sales –- including on-line ones –- are at prices too low to make for a sustainable and profitable business. We may well see drearier numbers by year’s end as well as casualties among importers and retailers.
Happy thoughts! To the numbers…
Bottled wine imports rose 20 percent by volume from January to June of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012. As usual, six nations — France, Australia, Spain, Chile, Italy and United States – accounted for ~90 percent of that. And, as usual, at least for most of the past two years, Spain led the charge, with 40 percent growth. The biggest underachiever: the United States with a decline of 5.2 percent. Overall, France remains dominant, with nearly 47 percent of the market, nearly triple its nearest competitor, Australia, with Spain inching ever closer to that second spot.
Value is another story. While France saw healthy growth of 18.9 percent by volume from January to June, the reported value of those imports dropped by 11.8 percent. No doubt people will point to that crackdown on official spending as meaning less fine French wine coming in. France nevertheless remains the leader by value, with nearly half of the market at 46.4 percent, and is far ahead of Australia in second place.
To its credit, Australia does much better in terms of value than of volume — 17.4 percent versus 12.7 percent. The third-biggest source of wine shows the opposite tendency. Spain accounts for 11.3 percent of imports on volume but a paltry 6.9 percent by value.
Finally, there are two minor players who hit above their weight in value. Both New Zealand and Canada represent less than 1 percent of the market by volume but at least that much by value (see below).
Note: These stats are accurate to the best of my knowledge. Hat tip to Tempranillo.
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South African restaurant Pinotage will soon reopen its suburban branch in new digs in Shunyi (see map below) as part of a project called Pinotage Plaza that includes a sports bar, cafe, wine shop and imported food store with meats, sauces, cheeses, fruits and vegetables.
Co-owner Toby Cao says Pinotage Plaza will measure 1200 square meters, with an additional 200 square meters of deck space. The restaurant should be open within days, with the sports bar slated for completion at month’s end.
Pinotage opened a branch in Sanlitun Soho earlier this year. See here for a write-up of the opening night food menu and here for the mini food and wine pairing options.
I’ll have more details on the plaza soon as well as an interview with Cao about the 100-plus South African wines in the Pinotage portfolio.
The quirkiest notion from this story I wrote for Wines and Vines magazine about fake California wine in China? Californian wines from one region used to fake California wines from another.
Before I get to that, I generally found — based on chats with winery reps, officials, distributors, lawyers and other industry watchers — that California wines, including “cult” ones like Opus One and Screaming Eagle, are faked less than their French and Australian counterparts.
California “cult” wines are niche. They tend to attract buyers who know and appreciate them. In contrast, a brand like Lafite has entered the zeitgeist. It tends to attract people who want an association with a certain lifestyle and typically wouldn’t know a real bottle from a fake one. That’s what makes it so attractive to the unscrupulous.
Chinese wines also have bigger much problems with being faked than do their U.S. counterparts. Top-three producer Great Wall is regularly ripped off while smaller wineries such as Ningxia’s Helan Qing Xue and Inner Mongolia’s Chateau Hansen also report problems with fakes.
As for the California on California problem (my highlights):
There is also the recent recognition by China’s government — via the Administration for Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine — of Napa Valley as a geographical indication. This should offer more protection to Napa but might bring unexpected results.
“People throw the name Napa around like it’s Bordeaux,†says [Dan] Christensen [director of California vintner and exporter Thirvin].
“We find ourselves in an uphill battle trying to explain why our legitimate premium Napa gear costs 200% more†than wines from Lodi, Paso Robles or Temecula, which some merchants call “Napa,†too.
“This is happening more and more. As awareness of California and its most prestigious AVA increases, so too will misrepresentation of the names,†he says.
The story also looks at approaches to protecting brands, including legal ones like distinguishing between criminal and civil actions, realizing police need to be educated (the average officer doesn’t understand foreign labels let alone have the ability to spot fake ones) and the no-brainer of registering trademarks, as well as nonlegal ones, such as using social media to build brand consciousness. It also touches on the importance of positioning fake wines as a food safety issue, especially given the government’s increasing attention in this area (my highlights):
Growing consumer power seems destined to make opposition rather than resignation to the food safety situation the norm, and this will be of benefit to fighting fakes. This consumer and government attitude is evident from how many makers of baijiu, the potent white spirit drink with a far bigger market share than wine, have anti-tamper seals.
“China has set a priority on food safety,†says [Jorge] Sanchez [director of the U.S. consulate’s Agricultural Trade Office in Guangzhou]. “I believe if someone is using the label of another winery or refilling bottles, (the authorities) could see that as a food safety violation and take immediate action.â€
South Korean conglomerate SKGroup plans to close the wine import and distribution offices it runs in China via a subsidiary company, according to three industry sources. Word is the company’s winery partners have already been informed of the news. One brand rep told me he is now seeking a new distributor. Another source says SK plans to sell its remaining stock and end its physical presence in China by closing its Shenzhen and Shanghai offices in the fall.
If anyone else more info on this situation, much appreciated if you let me know at beijingboyce (at) yahoo.com
A shop dedicated to Chilean wines will open in Beijing tomorrow. Called La Cava de Laoma, the shop is on the third floor of building 3 in the Sanlitun Soho complex and includes dozens of labels imported by the Chilean owner.
The options range from O. Fournier ‘Urban Maule’ Cabernet Sauvignon at rmb89 — I’m told Robert Parker gave it 90 points, thus, fans of his will be happy to get more than a point a kuai — to the highly esteemed Viña Maquis ‘Franco’ Cabernet Franc at rmb1500. Opening hours will be 10 AM to 10 PM daily and I imagine some samples will be handed out the first day. I’ll post more after a visit and taste test.
To find La Cava de Laoma, go to building 3 — the very colorful one — in Sanlitun Soho. You will find the shop on the first floor beside Bella grocery shop. It doesn’t look like there are plans for food but perhaps the guys can source some snacks from “Dognuts” a few floors above (see photo below).
Tommy’s back: Former California Grapes manager now handling Chile.
Good for you. You won’t need those skills for the 2013 China National Sommelier Competition but they might be amusing at parties.
This annual competition, started in 2009 by Tommy Lam, is serious stuff. It is open to Chinese citizens working in the food and beverage sector in China. Last year, there were 47 contestants. Lam expects even more this year.
Details:
Qualifying rounds are slated for August 12 in seven cities: Beijing, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Sanya, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xi’an and Xiamen.
The qualifying round results, and the top ten sommeliers, will be announced that evening.
The top ten will be invited to Shanghai for the semi-final and final slated for September 7.
If you are interested, you can click here for the application form.
Here are links about previous contests and sommeliers in China:
