Viral update | U.S. wine in China
The United States is adding border restrictions for anyone who visited China during the past 14 days, a response to the coronavirus situation. Alex Azur, …
Viral update | Australian wine in China
Campbell Thompson, co-owner of Beijing-based The Wine Republic and a 20 year-plus China business veteran, recently told me he canceled all tastings and dinners as …
Going viral | Coronavirus and the China wine trade
[Updated to include my January 31 newsletter. See below.] I got back to Beijing from a long holiday this month just in time for the …
A Christmas tale: Chinese IP pirates vs Kiwi wine brands
“Hundreds of New Zealand vineyards and wineries entered the Christmas season with some distressing news—a pirate had filed trade mark applications for their names in …
DBR Lafite to expand China winery | More Cabernet, more Marselan
Mere months after DBR Lafite released the first commercial wines from its Longdai project in Shandong province, the company is already preparing to expand. Company …
Risky business | DBR Lafite doubles down in Shandong
It’s tough to be number one. As the most famous foreign wine brand in China, Lafite has instant name recognition and an eager consumer base …
Flat as a pie | What a China pizza fest says about Italy’s wine performance
Oh, Italy. Your reputation for luxury brands and sports, notably football, is strong here in China. You are a major tourist draw. Your culture and …
Pontyfications | Bordeaux’s China exodus, ‘passionate’ distributors & new niches
Helene Ponty has partnered with distributors in fifty-plus cities in China to sell her family’s Bordeaux wine. She’s everywhere from “tier one” metropolises like Beijing and …
Taste | Lucashof wine from Pfalz
I don’t join many wine dinners because you always hope to show up at 7 PM and leave at 9 PM but end up returning …
Festival mode | Zhang Dongli brings Bordeaux’s Fete Le Vin to Beijing
As a veteran in tourism and event planning, Zhang Dongli has a long history of pairing France and China. Zhang’s most recent project, Bordeaux Fete …