“Chinese Terroir, Chinese Taste, Chinese Culture” was the theme of a two-day Grape and Wine Industry Cultural Fair held this weekend at one of the nation’s most revered schools, Peking University in Beijing.

The event referenced both the long history of wine / alcohol in China, dating 9000 years back to Jiahu in Henan Province, and around the world, with references to the Egyptians, Romans, churches of Europe and more.

And winery reps nationwide headed to Beijing to pour wines for students and other attendees at today’s outdoor tasting, including from Yantai (Shandong), Shangri-La (Yunnan) and Qingtongxia (Ningxia), while also being part of a contest featuring some 100 students as judges.

Of all the booths, I am most curious about Lingering Clouds: I wonder how people reacted to the natural wines and pet-nats made by Liu Jianjun aka Johnny Liu.

(We had his 2021 tea-infused Chardonnay pet-nat on Wednesday night and it was drinking fine!)

The fair’s first day included an industry forum with themes of Chinese wine and rural revitalization. Per a post by the school’s College of Modern Agriculture, those speeches included topics like the role of the wine industry in food security, ways the university can serve national rural revitalization strategies, the significance of wine science and education, and the unique characteristics of Chinese terroir. There were also more focused topics, such as Yantai terroir and the “model” of Changyu.

Reports state that over 300 people attended, including officials, heads of local industry departments, reps from some 100 wineries, and teachers and students from 32 universities and colleges.

(The big question for me is how many of them will actually buy any of that wine! But, I digress.)

The second day included the conference, the tasting fair and the contest awards.

Based on the posts crossing my Weixin feed, the participating wineries seemed pretty excited to present their wines at Peking University. I guess the association with a quality school is a bit like winning awards from well-known contests or getting a good review from a famous critics — or even presenting wines at the United Nations, as Ningxia did a few years ago.

Anyway, I’m contacting a few people about their experiences at the fair and will update this post later in the week.

The name ‘Shangri-La‘ might evoke the earthly paradise of utopian novel Lost Horizon, but this stunning region in northernmost Yunnan is also making real efforts to plant a high-altitude flag on the world’s fine wine map.

The first Meili Snow Mountain International Wine Festival is the latest effort by a region that already has wine fame thanks to top brands like Xiaoling and LVMH’s Ao Yun — can we call them the region’s ‘Grand Cru-nnan’? — and an oenological history that features 19th-century European missionaries bearing vines.

Organized this month by the the local government, including its agriculture and commerce bureaus, the one-day outdoor festival included song and dance performances, a display area featuring local products, a wine tasting for 100-plus guests, and a forum, all with those snow-capped mountains as backdrop.

Growing Diversity

With a rising number of brands in Shangri-la, and other China wine regions making moves, the festival aims to further elevate a place that has attracted much attention these past dozen years. That includes major international operations, with LVMH’s Ao Yun officially founded in 2013. And more recently with Penfolds cooperating with Shangri-La Wines, the biggest fruit source.

Add a mix of ambitious entrepreneurs putting down roots and roving operations such as FARMentation, Xiao Pu and Petit Mont — which were pouring their wines at ProWine in Shanghai while this festival took place — and the seeds for an intriguing wine scene are already sown.

The results so far range from fine Cabernet-driven wines that make international critics swoon to superb ice wines to quirkier offerings, including riffs on grapes associated with those missionaries, such as Rose Honey, and even a juicy ‘orange’ Chardonnay.

Intriguing Story

I guess none of this is a surprise given the attraction of Yunnan. As I wrote in this story seven years ago for Wine Business International.

“In a world awash with wine brands, they say that good stories are essential. Yunnan has many: vineyards scattered in the far-flung valleys of a land called Shangri-La. Grape varieties thought extinct, thriving in a vinous Jurassic Park. Bordeaux-style blends with world-beating prospects; ice wines made at latitudes that favour mangoes; exotic concoctions named Rose Honey and French Wild.  

“Roughly equal to Switzerland in size and Spain in population, Yunnan is China’s southwest bulwark. It borders Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Its terrain spans plateaus, mountain ranges and rivers like the Mekong, Salween and Yangtze. And it produces a wide array of grains, vegetables and fruits along with well-regarded coffee, tea and tobacco.

“While it seems an unlikely candidate for premium wine – it lies so far south that the Tropic of Cancer cuts through it – winemaking in the region dates at least to the latter half of the 19th century, when European missionaries came bearing vines. Although the Ningxia region in the far north dominates the discussion of quality winemaking in China, Yunnan seems poised to make a few statements of its own.

The First Festival

I’ve attended many wine festivals across China and this one exceeded expectations for an inaugural event. The setting gave the organizers an impressive starting point: waking to the snow-capped Meili Mountain range drenched in sunlight. Enjoying that view while walking to the nearby festival area—after loading up on salty bacon, fried eggs, local noodles, yak butter tea and coffee—maintained the vibe.

For the festival, let me start at the end — an outdoor 100-plus person tasting of 11 wines that concluded the day.

The first wines poured were the heaviest hitting reds — even before the Chardonnay — Ao Yun, Shangri-La, Xiaoling, Bao Zhuang, Roduit. I like that moxie.

The total lineup of eleven included a mix of well-known brands and unknowns, ranging in quality from world class to “needs improvement”, and in style from dry reds to quality ice wines to a love-it-or-hate-it late harvest Cabernet Sauvignon. (I waffled and liked it.)

I sat beside a French winemaker based in Shandong province who gave helpful technical feedback on each wine that nicely balanced my hedonistic judgements.

The service was impressive: the staff precisely poured the wine, politely dealt with any issues and somehow kept track of which bottle each of us was tasting. Notable, especially under such conditions and for a first event.

As with other Chinese regions, there is a heavy focus on Bordeaux / France in terms of grape varieties and styles. (And of the handful of foreigners present, I was the only non-French.)

Given the region’s missionary history, it would be nice to present at least one grape variety linked to those pioneers, such as Rose Honey, especially as I’ve seen Bao Zhuang’s version featured in some bars and restaurants.

One tasting highlight was unexpected: a freelance winemaker named Martin W Ding brought his local orange Chardonnay unannounced and I tried that on the side. This had 8 months of skin contact, 17 months of aging in lightly toasted barrels and was bottled last month. Juicy and fruity—think grapefruit and tangerine—it made me think of pairing it with the salty bacon and slightly greasy eggs enjoyed that morning. Breakfast wine!

Unfortunately, for most at the tasting, and at a group dinner later that night, this orange wine was one to be ignored or tried with a grimace. It reminded me of visits a decade-plus ago to regions such as Ningxia, where if it wasn’t a Bordeaux-style red aged in new French oak, well, don’t expect much patience or audience.
 
In any case, the tasting was very well-organized. Yes, one could quibble about things such as “Western” baked goods being served during the tasting instead of the very worthy local snacks, but the quality of the wines, service and setting made this an afternoon to remember.

Now, back to the festival’s beginning. A few observations.

I understand the need for VIPs to make speeches. And the bigger the festival, the more the speeches. But enduring a dozen-plus consecutive addresses plus taped congratulatory messages from “famous” people worldwide, as I’ve experienced at festivals in Ningxia and elsewhere, is not especially enjoyable.

At the Meili Snow Festival, there were fewer and they were spread in a program with fantastic local song and dance performances. That included a harvest dance—a staple at China festivals—paired with wine-related videos, photos and info on numerous big screens.

Likewise, I participated in the “International Forum on High-Altitude Grape and Wine Industry” and this was also tightly organized. Moderated by professor Ma Huiqin of China Agricultural University, with Cui Kexu of Shangri-La Wines, Peter Dawa Pinchu of Ao Yun, Bertrand Cristau of Xiaoling and KOL Antoine Bunel, we each had about five minutes to make key points about wine in the region. (I’ll cover mine in a separate post.)

Finally, the festival included an area with booths featuring vendors of wines, including those not in the official tasting, and local products like honey, walnut oil, canned mushrooms, fruits and more. Yunnan offers a wealth of tasty treasures, and these can benefit from mutual association. Strength in numbers, I say!

The day’s icing on the cake—or its espresso after the wine—was the mobile coffee vendors on site who made as good an Americano or Latte as you will find anywhere on the road. Well done, Shangri-La.

That’s a quick look at what I believe will be the first of many such Meili Snow Mountain wine festivals, an impressive first effort, from the meals to the views, from the quality of the wine tasted to the people who were pouring them.

I have a couple more posts coming soon on Grape Wall, one on our tour to Ao Yun–two vineyards and the winery–and to Bao Zhuang, maker of Celebre, which has attracted much attention this year. And one on what I think are the five advantages of Shangri-La wines.

You don’t find a lot of Müller-Thurgau in China. And to find it in single-varietal skin-contact form? Well, I’ve only tasted such a wine once, earlier this month at Canaan winery just outside of Beijing, and it was delicious. And that was far from the only tasty orange wine served.

I tagged along with Shuai Zekun, a senior editor for jamesuckling.com, to taste 50-plus wines from the sibling / neighboring operations Canaan and Domaine Franco-Chinois (DFC) in Huailai County, with chief winemaker Zhao Desheng and his team.

(A side note that should be a headline: Zhao is marking 20 years with DFC, a milestone that should merit some kind of anniversary blend, no?)

These wines are good across the board: skillfully balanced mergers of fruit, wood and complexity. And the combination of Canaan and DFC wines means plenty of options for aficionados.

Still whites such as Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Reds from Syrah, Cabernet and Pinot Noir to Merlot, Tempranillo and Marselan, with DFC the first place in China that latter variety was planted. An Ehrenfelser! And always near the finish is that delectable late-harvest Petit Manseng, which has long been one of my all-time favorite Chinese wines.

Even better, we also tasted some wines from fellow Huailai operations Amethyst, Martin and SunGod.

But what really caught my eye, and my taste buds, were those skin-contact wines.

It started with a Riesling, a fresh light juicy easy-drinking number that gave me different aromas each time I stuck my nose in the glass. Gingerbread. Tangerine. Nuts. “Mango,” said Shuai. And cloves that lingered at the finish. When your tasting notes say “super fun”, it gives you an idea of a mood evoked.

The Muller-Thurgau offered refreshing acidity and light easy tannins, with ripe stone fruit and hints of tropical fruit and candied ginger. Refreshing, with a pleasant stone fruit tartness at the finish. Simply a nice mix of fruit, acidity and tannins.

And there were more, including a Chardonnay (the juiciest one tried, a party in a glass with some fresh tangerine offsetting orange peel and clove), a Muscat Blanc (with six weeks of skin contact and slightly less playful than that Chardonnay) and a Chenin Blanc (I picked up more subtle fruit aromas and flavors here, including melon and pear).

These are going to be released in small quantities–we are talking about hundreds rather than thousands of bottles each–and to likely retail at around RMB300 (don’t quote me on that!).

I hoped to buy a few bottles on the way out, but no such luck, so it’s just a matter of waiting. But it will be interesting to try that Riesling and Müller-Thurgau again, especially as they rank among the better orange wines I tasted this year, up there with Puchang’s Rkatsiteli, a delectable wine that deserves its own post!

One of the China’s top wineries is getting into the spirt, literally. Shanxi-based Grace Vineyard, which has ranked among the country’s leaders in blending quality wine and good value for more than two decades, is on the verge of launching a series of gins.

Grace CEO Judy Chan posted a video this month of the team doing an outdoor photo shoot of a bottle and wrote, “Looking forward to sharing our gin with you.”

The gin in the photo above is called ‘Twilight’, with a blend of botanicals unique to Grace. Word is there are a handful of gins in the works, including ones inspired by passionfruit and one by jasmine tea.

The gins are made in Fujian province, where Grace bought a distillery with the aim of making whisky, but that has the capacity for other spirits, too.

The spirits project got an extra push in late 2020 when Grace announced it would ease development on its Ningxia operation and use funds to speed up progress on gin and whiskey. That decision worked well given the Ningxia winery already had enough scale to be unaffected.

Grace also barreled its first whisky this year, as I posted in May, which was the culmination of some five years of work.

Chan wrote about adding the new whisky and gin production line in her annual report for 2019, adding that it would boost Grace’s product range and help open a new market, Fujian, although she also noted that the times were difficult given the COVID crisis.

Chief winemaker Lee Yeanyean has seen his job description expanding with these new projects while he still continues to oversee the Shanxi and Ningxia wine operations. He told me learning about whisky has been an eye-opener.

“Winemaking is more about terroir while whisky is more about controlling processes,” he told me. “For distilling, controlling for factors such as malt, wort clarity, temperature and so on can be done much quicker.”

In the end, the gin and whisky will give Grace a greater footprint in the alcohol market, and also spread risk at a time when China’s wine sector is undergoing major stress.

And it doesn’t mean Grace has lost focus on wine, either. The company has been steadily introducing new products for two decades, from a range of sparkling wines to grape varieties like Aglianico and Marselan to a new multi-vintage Chairman’s Reserve red blend. That continues today, with vineyard experiments on varieties such as Sangiovese, Saperavi and Tempranillo.

More on those gins soon.

“Flying winemaker” sounds like a high-falutin’ job with trips to exotic destinations and saving-the-day — and vintage — heroics. But “driving winemaker”? Not so much.

But that’s the life of Deng Zhongxiang, a wine consultant in Ningxia who averages some 200 kilometers per day on that region’s lonely roads.

Last month, I wrote a Wine-Searcher profile of Deng, who studied at University of Burgundy and spent time at a trio of French wineries before settling in Ningxia in 2012, where he consults for seven wineries, including some that rank among China’s best.

And where makes wines unique to each operation’s soil, climate and owner demands, while working with grapes from Viognier and Vidal to Marselan and Malbec to Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. That includes orange wines and pet-nats, too. He’s a busy guy, one that one wine bar owner called “The Michel Rolland of China.” (If Rolland only sped about to his clients in a car. And sometimes on a bicycle. See below.)

A few quotes from the article:

• “Domaine Charme’s Marselan is often broodingly concentrated but structured due to the rocky soils in Jinshan [sub-region],” explains Shuai of jamessuckling.com. “This is different from, let’s say, Lansai’s Marselan, which is a lot more expressive and silkier. The same can be said for the Cabernets. Deng highlights the characteristics of the terroirs in different appellations.”
  
• At Mountain Wave, one of Deng’s newer clients, his first project was blending three grapes rarely planted together: Pinot Noir, Marselan and Malbec. The resulting ‘PMM’ turned out well and this year Deng is also making pet-nats for each of those three grapes. “We always had some idea of doing sparkling wines,” says owner Melvin Li. “Deng was deeply involved and gave really good suggestions about the quality and design of our tanks while building our winery.”
  
• With winter coming, Deng will again find himself alone on those roads, although it will be easier than during the past three years when “zero COVID” regulations forced him to shift at times from “driving winemaker” to “bicycling winemaker” or even “walking winemaker” to reach his clients. (“I had to do it,” he says. “There are so many wines for which I need to take responsibility. My job needs to get done.”)

Check out the full Wine Searcher story here, with quotes from Shuai Zekun of jamesuckling.com, Zhang Pai of Domaine Charme, Melvin Li of Mountain Wave, Yu Xiaojia of Lansai and Isabella Ko of wine bar / restaurant The Merchants.

“Images of vineyards beneath blue skies, of grape-stained hands at a sorting line; of vividly colored must; of tired but happy people sharing meals after a long day. This all offers a sense of wine far beyond the tasting notes on a back label.”

Check out my Wine-Searcher story about the trend of bar and restaurant owners in China heading to the country’s vineyard and wineries to make private labels.

While the total volume of these wines is small, the trend is about more than simple production. It is also about sharing the wine-making experience via social media and creating stories that intrigue customers.

And, IMHO, it is also another example of the wine bar business finding success in much the same way as craft beer, namely, exclusive products.

One attraction of brew pubs is you can only get a given producer’s beers at that site. This makes the visit more fun and intriguing for more adventures drinkers.

The same can be said for “craft wines.” Many brands can be found across wine bars, which often leads the consumer to start scanning the label to check prices! But with this DIY wines, consumers will only be able to get them at the specific wine bar, thus giving them another reason to visit and to then possibly try and by some other wines.

Anyway, the story includes quotes by Ian Dai of Xiao Pu and Luo Yuchen of FARMentation, both working with bars and restaurants on such wines.

Plus, Jiro Hsu of BASTARD and Andrew Moo of Yaya’s Pasta House, both in Shanghai, who are creating their own private labels.

Plus, Wang Shenghan aka “Lady Penguin”, a top wine KOL making her first wine with consultant Deng Zhongxiang. (Also see my profile of Deng in a recent Wine-Searcher story.)

A few quotes:

• “The great thing is [these natural wines bars] introduce a lot of nontraditional consumers to wine, maybe because of the fruitiness or the nice labels or for whatever reason,” says [winemaker] Luo, who sees growth tied to more easy-drinking” wines.
  
• “We made a blend of red (Pinot Noir) and white (Chardonnay),” says Hsu. “It represents Bastard and is also a ‘glou-glou’ daily drinking wine. It’s not funky at all.”
  
• “If it’s possible, [the clients] pick the fruit or definitely help crush the fruit,” says Dai. “We prefer they stay until the wine is ready to go into a barrel, which is a seven-day process at least.”
  
• “It’s turned into wine,” wrote Wang in one post while holding a glass with a tank sample. “It’s like a mother watching her daughter grow up… It is our hope that our wine can offer a good example of Chinese ‘affordable fine wine’ to a bigger crowd.
  
• “In our collaborations with restaurant and bars, we find they are willing to make more experimental stuff,” says Dai. “They might make a Marselan rose while blending in a little Italian Riesling. Or make an Italian Riesling while adding a little Marselan for color.” That gives winemakers the green light for projects that might otherwise exist only in a notebook.’

Check out the full article on Wine-Searcher here.

Wine imports from Down Under are down yet again.

Just ahead of Australia PM Anthony Albanese’s visit to China this week, and just after China agreed to review its up to 218% in tariffs on Australian wine last week, an export report by Wine Australia again highlights just how dire is the situation.

According to the data, exports of Australian wine to mainland China for the year ending September 30 totaled just 1 million liters (down 80 percent) worth US$7.3 million (down 65 percent). That put China behind more than two dozen markets, including Finland, India, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

That was also down from USD20.9 million in exports to China one year earlier. And a distant cry from 30 October 2019 when Wine Australia posted that exports to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, then topped USD1.25 billion. More than USD1.1 billion of that was for Mainland China alone.

US, Asia top markets

The top export markets for Australia this past year were the United States (USD366.3 million), United Kingdom (USD353.9 million), Hong Kong (USD205 million), Canada (USD147.5 million) and Singapore (USD116.6 million).

Looking at the bigger picture, Australian wine exports declined globally by over 10 percent. Per Wine Australia’s summary:

“In the year ended September 2023, Australian wine exports declined by 11 per cent in value to $1.79 billion and 4 per cent in volume to 604 million litres (67 million 9-litre case equivalents). The average value declined by 7 per cent to a to $2.96 per litre free on board (FOB). Total export value has been on a downward trend since peaking at $3.1 billion in the 12 months end October 2020.”

Wine Australia

Despite almost zero exports to mainland China, Asia still had a slight lead as top regional destination, with a 33 percent share of value versus Europe at 30 per cent and North America at 29 per cent.

Market Turmoil

The data comes at a time when the China market itself is struggling, with decreasing overall imports as well as local production the past half-dozen years. Given the uncertain economy, and the presence of stocks of Australian wine in China even three years after the tariffs hit, retaking a significant amount of market share in the near term is bound to be a daunting task for Australian producers.

Australia’spowerhouse Treasury Wine Estates and its Penfolds brand, which had more import value than individual countries such as Spain, Italy and the United States in 2019, have kept a steady China presence during the past three years by holding tastings, making wines, importing Penfolds labels from France and the United States, cooperating with the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, which spearheaded the tariffs in the first place, and more. Most recently, Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Gago visited Yunnan in China, where the company is working on a top-end wine.

“I will be doing events while I’m here [in Yunnan] this week, with locals, with government and hopefully with the China Alcoholic Drinks Association,” said Gago, per a recent article in The Australian. Referencing Penfolds nearly 180-year history, he also was quoted as saying, “We are looking at the next 180 years. There are going to be blips and hurdles–tariffs was one of them–but when you look at that across 180 years it’s just a blip.”

Finally, I’ve been talking to a lot of people about the prospects for Australian wine in China should the tariffs be lifted and will be posting more about that soon.

For the full export report from Wine Australia, which closed its China office in 2022, see here.

[This info originally appeared in the Grape Wall newsletter. Sign up here.]

There is a chill in the air these days, due to both the coming winter season and the continued stagnation of the wine scene.

But one area is hot: Ningxia.

This promising north-central region just finished fourth in a “top wine regions” list, besting places such as Napa, Barossa, Tuscany and Champagne and trailing only Bordeaux, Rioja and Mendoza. Burgundy finished a distant eleventh. A second list of “The Best Wines of the World” saw 19 Chinese producers rank in a “top 100” headed by DBR Lafite (see below).

“The Top Wine Regions of the World” was spearheaded by the International Wine Brand Center, a project launched last year in Ningxia via the International Academy of Brand Sciences, the China Brand Building Promotion Association and Helan Mountain East Foothill Wine Industry Park, per a Ningxia News report.

The list was revealed during the awards ceremony last month for the Third Ningxia Helan Mountain East International Wine Competition and the First Ningxia Marselan Selection, organized in cooperation with Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, which faced issues this year when it distanced itself from the results of a contest in Xinjiang it was involved in with regular wine event partner Beijing International Wine Exchange and that included judges who represent some of the top international brands in China.

According to Ningxia News, input on the wine regions list was sought from about 30 experts from China, the United States, France and elsewhere, standards were established for ranking wine regions, and, long story short — boom! — Ningxia is umber four.

Not surprisingly, the results were met with bewilderment and snark from some trade people, particularly those from regions that finished worse than fourth. Meanwhile, one person familiar with Ningxia told me the list was simply a way to pump up the region.

There was also a second list announced, “The Best Wine Brands of the World”, with Chinese producers Changyu and Great Wall taking third and sixth place respectively.

The other top-six producers were DBR Lafite (first), Moet Chandon (second), Penfolds (fourth) and Concha y Toro (fifth), although the latter was initially mistakenly listed as from Australia.

There were a total of 19 producers from China in the top 100.

(Long-term readers likely know I have been involved with some Ningxia projects, including bringing winemakers for two-year contests in 2012 and 2015. I have nothing to do with either of these current lists nor the recent competitions, although I am in contact with about Ningxia 50 wineries directly for our World Marselan Day efforts.)

Veteran China wine operation Grace Vineyard is teaming up with a new partner for restaurant sales.

Hong Kong businessman C.K. Chan launched Grace Vineyard in Shanxi in 1997, with daughter Judy Chan taking over in 2002 and expanding the operation to include vineyards and a winery in Ningxia, a distillery in Fujian, a listing on Hong Kong’s stock exchange and an ever-diversifying range of grape varieties, wine styles and price points.

The new distribution partner, which is finalizing staffing and other details, is headed by Cary Zhen. Zhen brings ample experience to the venture as she was most recently head of on-trade sales for Summergate after spending nearly six years at COFCO. She also brings wine and spirits experience from time spent at Watson’s, ASC, Bacardi and Jebsen.

From its first vintages, made by French winemaker Gerard Colin, Grace built a reputation for combining quality and value, and found a place in China’s hotels and restaurants at a time when such local wines were rare. Grace partnered with Torres in 2004, with then-managing partner Alberto Fernandez being a major advocate, then moved to ASC in late 2016 where it plugged a gap in the portfolio by being that distributors’ only Chinese winery partner at the time.

Given growing interest in quality local wines by bars, restaurants and hotels, having dedicated staff to promote Grace should mean we see more of its Deep Blue, its Aglianico, its Angelina Brut Reserve, its Marselan and more showing up on restaurant menus soon.