My weekly listing of Beijing wine events poses a couple of problems. First, it sometimes gets buried quickly beneath new posts. Second, I get event invites almost daily and want to pass the info along right away rather than wait for the next listing.
To deal with this, I’ve added a wine event listings page on sibling blog Grape Wall of China. You can find at top of the right column in this blog, under “pagesâ€, and it means I can update the listings as soon as I get the invites. (Case in point: I added three free events that Top Cellar will hold in late October and November.) Yes, I’m only listing Beijing events at this point but perhaps sometime in the future, resources willing, I can expand a bit.
As usual, if you intend to attend any listed events, it is best to confirm the details with the venue ahead of time. Also, if you want your wine event listed, send the details to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.
“For almost two centuries, it has been a sacred rite and late-autumn ritual for nearly every Shanghai family to eat da zha xie, or hairy crabs when the cold, crisp autumn winds pick up. They are traditionally washed down with huang jiu, or rich yellow wine, such as Shaoxing wine.
“The best known and marketed are the Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, the Rolls Royce and the Vidalia onion of the freshwater crab world. They mature between October and November and are harvested from the lake northeast of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. Crabs from the eastern part of the lake are said to be the best.
Hairy crabs are usually steamed with ginger and served with a dipping sauce of ginger and vinegar. I’m joining a mission tonight to pair wines with this fall delicacy – my contribution is a Viognier – and will report back in full next week. In the meantime, any other suggestions?
After a light summer of wine events, Beijing’s distributors are back in force with a slew of them. Palette Wines will get out a good part of its portfolio for Mundo Vino, a tasting of over 100 wines at the Palette Vino shop in Shunyi on August 18 (RMB150), while the Hilton’s eleventh annual wine show is slated for November 29. The weekly “Friday with Frank†tastings at Sequoia Cafe will re-start next week. And a special shout to Winelink, which holds a weekly South African wine tasting at Pinotage. I recently tried a bottle of the company’s Deetlefs Estate Weisser Riesling – great value at RMB80 (thanks to Frankie Zhao for bringing it along). I’ll have more next week, including on upcoming Beaujolais Nouveau events.
Now, the tastings…
Upcoming wine events in Beijing
Friday, October 10, 7:30 PM, One East On Third (Hilton), RMB600+15% St. Supery wine dinner, with winery CEO Michaela Rodeno; by ASC Fine Wines; RSVP with Helen Lu at eventsbj@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803
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Saturday, October 11, 5-6 PM, Pinotage, RMB60 Weekly tasting; 6 South African Cabernet, with cheese; by WineLink; RSVP with Chris at 13611-207-396 / chrisb@winelink.com.cn
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Sunday, October 12, 11:30 AM-3 PM, Westin Financial Street, free Wine bazaar, with 10 wines and discounts on 80 more; by ASC Fine Wines; RSVP with Helen Lu at eventsbj@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803
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Wednesday, October 15, 7-10:30 PM, Cafe Europe (Jianwai Soho, Building 15), RMB260 New Zealand wine dinner, with four wine-food pairings; by The Wine Republic; RSVP at events@thewinerepublic.com
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Thursday, October 16, 7-8:30 PM, Amigo (Central Park), free Chilean Wine Tasting, by Top Cellar, RSVP at www.topcellar.com.cn, marketing@topcellar.com.cn, or 13241-220-468.
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Thursday, October 16, 7.30 PM, The Bookworm, RMB150 1000 miles from top to bottom; tasting of four New Zealand wines; by The Wine Republic; RSVP at events@thewinerepublic.com or 5869-7050
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Thursday, October 16, 6:30 PM, Capital Club, RMB1088+15% Bordeaux Cru Classe Autumn dinner, with 5 wines; by ASC Fine Wines; RSVP with Helen Lu at eventsbj@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803
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Friday, October 17, 6:30 PM, Sequoia Cafe
The return of the Friday with Frank tastings at Sequoia Cafe, details TBA
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Saturday, October 18, 1-6 PM, Palette Vino, RMB150 Mundo Vino; tasting of over 100 wines, 20% discounts of bottle purchases; by Palette Wines; RSVP with Dazz Ma at 8046-4461 / dazzling0828@hotmail.com
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Wednesday, October 22, 7:30 PM, La Baie des Anges, RMB100 “Butterfly effectâ€, with 5 wines (Pinot Noir, Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux, Jurancon, and Cabernet Sauvignon); By French Wine Paradox; RSVP at ccarrard.fwp@gmail.com / 13439-441-103.
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Thursday, October 30, 6:30 PM, Legendale, RMB688+15% Trimbach wine dinner, wine winery owner Hubert Trimbach; by ASC Fine Wines; RSVP with Helen Lu at eventsbj@asc-wines.com / 6587-3803
October, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB1788
World Series of Wine: The Tour of Italy, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
Saturday, November 29, Hilton, price TBA
Food & Wine Experience XI, by Beijing Hilton; details TBA
November, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB1588
World Series of Wine: The Grange Challenge, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
December, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB1388
World Series of Wine: Hidden Gems, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
January, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB4888
World Series of Wine: The Ultimate Dinner – The Judgement of Aria, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
Note: If you intend to attend any of the above events, it is best to confirm the details with the venue ahead of time. To get a wine event listed, send event info to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.
Decanter reports that Singapore-based wine publisher, writer, and consultant Ch’ng Poh Tiong has created a new system of “phonetic translation“ that covers the names of leading chateaus.
The system will offer a certified phonetic translation of the 61 Crus Classes, as well as other members of the Union des Grands Crus such as Petrus, Cheval Blanc and Ausone, in conjunction with the chateaux themselves.
Wherever possible these will also be registered as trademarks – although some have already been registered by ‘opportunistic individuals’ in China, Poh Tiong said.
The article notes that the names of chateaus may be translated differently in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore and that “four or five versions may be in circulation at any one time.” This is on the top of the confusion due to various translations of grape variety names, as recently noted by professor Ma Huiqin (see link below).
The thing with corked wine in that Chinese consumers often don’t know it when they taste it.
I have attended big tastings, approached a table, realized the wine being served is corked, and seen only an inch of wine left in the bottle. This means a dozen or more people have already tried this faulty wine and yet it continues to be poured.
Another example: I once showed up late at a dinner and found people raving about a bottle of Chateau Lafite they were drinking. I took one sip and realized the wine was corked. I remained silent since they were enjoying the wine, but it reminded me again that many people do notice when wine is corked.
Some research finds people are much better at identifying a wine as very acidic or tannic than as corked. I have done work with Professor Ma Huiqin at China Agricultural University where we gave students faulty wines, including corked ones. We found that the wine characteristic they most easily identified was its weight or body. They also easily identified acidity. But, when it came to corked wine, it usually passed by their noses and tongues unnoticed.
Thus, in discussions of corks, screw tops, and so on in China, we need to realize that many consumers have little experience of what wine should taste like and, even if they noticed a wine is corked, they won’t necessarily identify it as a fault.
As noted, gambling den Macau has followed the lead of Hong Kong, which eliminated its wine tax earlier this year. As Jeannie Cho Lee puts it in this article in Wine Spectator, “the question most asked was, Why did it take so long?” (Perhaps the legislators were on a roll at the blackjack table?)
Cho Lee provides a sobering view of what the move means for Macau, pointing out that the enclave has less than a tenth of the population of Hong Kong. An excerpt from the article:
“I do not believe the elimination of duty will have a great impact for the trade or for consumers living in Macau,” said Alan Ho, executive director of Florinda Hotels, which owns numerous Macau hotels including Hotel Lisboa, home to Robuchon a Galera, a Wine Spectator Grand Award winner, and Hotel Grand Lisboa, which houses Best of Award of Excellence winner Don Alfonso 1890. “It is more of a defensive move to keep prices in line with Hong Kong. But Hong Kong has a head start and better trade infrastructure.”
Joseph Chaney tackles this topic in an analysis piece for Reuters that makes me wonder: Before becoming the next Chile, wouldn’t China first have to crack down on domestic companies that bottle bulk wine from the South American nation and pass it off as their own?
I would love to know the source of this statement: “Further out, there are fears that foreign wines could eventually beat Chinese vintners on their home turf as tastes expand among a burgeoning middle class.” Fears by whom? It seems to me that not only is the pie growing, but that local wineries are looking to grab a slice of the share held by their foreign counterparts (more on this soon).
A September 19-20 Hart Davis Hart auction raised more than USD11 million and one of the bidders was Wu Jianxin, who, writes Bloomberg’s Elin McCoy, “flew in from Beijing, [and] battled against another Asian buyer for the first case of 1982 Lafite, taking it for $54,970 ($4,580 a bottle), a world record, beating case lots of auction darling 1982 Chateau Petrus.”
When I was asked for an English-Chinese list of wine grape varieties for this blog, I considered the best way to provide this information. Should I include ‘霞多丽’, ‘莎当妮’, or ‘å¤å¤šå†…’, since all three have been used as a translation of Chardonnay? Similarly, should I include ‘美乒, ‘梅鹿辄’, or even ‘梅尔诺’ as a translation of Merlot?
Wine is not a part of daily life in China, so it is hardly surprising that most people are unaware of grape variety names. Even students majoring in English or French are unlikely to study them.
And while there is a standard translation of grape varieties, few people know about it in China beyond viticulturist and enologist societies. This is understandable, since before 1990, the translation of grape names did not constitute a major issue – the wine industry was quite small and homogenuous, competition was not so fierce, and few representative of foreign wines were in the market.
Translation has since become a much bigger business, with an increasing number of imported wines and with new wine distribution companies and agents emerging almost daily.
Unfortunately, many translations used in the market were done by university students who majored in English or by companies with no background in wine. When they came across a grape variety they did not know, they usually grabbed any Chinese characters that “sounded right” and published these as the translation, without checking professional wine books or the standard translation dictionary.
The problem is that careless translations based simply on sound go against the nature of the Chinese language. Unlike English, which uses an alphabet, Chinese is constructed of ideograms or characters. A Chinese word is usually made of two (and sometimes more) such characters, and the meanings of each is combined to create a new word.
From this point of view ‘霞多丽’ (rosy cloud / many / beautiful) is the best translation for Chardonnay, whereas the alternatives ‘莎当妮’ or ‘ å¤å¤šå†…’ mean nothing because the characters offer no synergy.
Getting consensus on these terms will be a difficult task, especially since individual companies have spent many years and much money promoting their brands. Thus, we can expect to find Huangdong (‘莎当妮’), Dragon Seal (‘å¤å¤šå†…’), and Great Wall (‘霞多丽’) to continue to provide consumers many ways of saying the same thing – Chardonnay.
Here are some standard definitions from the Chinese Society of Viticulturists:
Thursday, September 18, 7-8:30 PM, Amigo (Central Park), free
Top Cellar’s best sellers, with 8 wines from Top Cellar; RSVP at marketing@topcellar.com.cn.
Friday, September 19, 7-11 PM, Oh! Marco (Financial Street area), RMB100 8 Chilean & French wines at RMB100 per bottle; RSVP at 6622-0566.
Saturday, September 20, Radisson SAS Hotel, RMB 228 (RSVP essential) Taste of the Nations; 150 wines from 12 countries; by Torres China; RSVP with Tony Li at 5165-5519, x284 or tonyli@torres.com.cn.
Wednesday, September 24, 7:30 PM, Westin Chaoyang, RMB2888 Grange dinner and auction, with wine maker Kym Shroeter; auction of 2003 Grange magnum; RSVP with Helen Lu at 6587-3803 / eventsby@asc-wines.com.
Thursday, September 25, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB1788 World Series of Wine: New Zealand Chardonnays and Pinots vs Burgundy Classics, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
October 11, 3 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), call for info Single malt tasting, including Glen Elgin, Glenkinchie, Royal Lochnagar, and Talisker, with Peter Kendall; for info, call 6505-2266, x36 or email danny.kane@shangri-la.com.
October 16, 7-8:30 PM, Amigo (Central Park), free Chilean Wine Tasting, by Top Cellar, RSVP at www.topcellar.com.cn, marketing@topcellar.com.cn, or 13241-220-468.
October, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB1788
World Series of Wine: The Tour of Italy, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
November, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB1588
World Series of Wine: The Grange Challenge, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
December, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB1388
World Series of Wine: Hidden Gems, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
Saturday, November 29, Hilton, price TBA
Food & Wine Experience XI, by Beijing Hilton; more details to come.
January, 7 PM, Aria (China World Hotel), RMB4888
World Series of Wine: The Ultimate Dinner – The Judgement of Aria, with Summergate; RSVP with Danny Kane at danny.kane@shangri-la.com / 6505-2266, x36.
Note: If you intend to attend any of the above events, it is best to confirm the details with the venue ahead of time. To get a wine event listed, send event info, preferably in text format, to beijingboyce@yahoo.com.
Debra Meiburg and Jeannie Cho Lee, both based in Hong Kong, are in the newest Masters of Wine (MW) graduating class . Gaining an MW is no easy task, as the exam covers theory (topics range from viticulture to the wine business), practice (blind tastings), and a dissertation. In other words, your brain, tongue, nose, and liver need to be top-notch. A sizable bank account also helps, since tasting thousands of wines, including very expensive one, and visiting wine regions is highly recommended. Here’s how the Institute of Masters of Wine puts it:
The MW Education Programme is largely self-study, requiring a high degree of personal motivation, commitment and discipline over a considerable period of time. Prospective students should be widely read on subjects concerning the growing, production, handling, packaging, commercialisation and consumption of wine. They should also ensure they are up to date with the latest technical and commercial practices in the wine industry by following industry journals and magazines. Experience of visiting several wine producing regions is essential, the more detailed the visit and the more diverse the types of vineyard and winery facilities visited the better.
(It’s enough to drive someone to drink.)
Jeannie Cho Lee runs the Fine Wine School, in conjunction with Berry Bros. & Rudd, and writes for a number of print and online publications, including Wine Business International, Wine Spectator, Baccarat, and The Asset.
Debra Meiburg writes about wine for the South China Morning Post and is a wine educator and judge.
