No posts for the last 10 days or so as I have been away in China. So what are my impressions of Chinese wine?
I tasted many bottles that were quite heavily oxidised, to the extent I'm wondering if this is deliberate. I must do some research on this.
They are still learning how to store and serve wine. Several times a request for a glass of red wine was met with a glass of white wine. Many of the bottles of red my group were served also were very cold.
There is an easy availability of wine. The Air China in-flight magazine carried several full page colour ads and every restaurant I went into sold wine, much of it labelled Great Wall, produced by the company of the same name.
I've come back from my trip incredibly impressed with China and the Chinese. They are already a force to be reckoned with for many goods such as electronics and I am confident they will put much effort into wine in the next 5 to 10 years and will compete on the wider world stage much as countries like Argentina are starting to do.
I'll post more on my experiences over the next few days after I've settled back into life at home, and recovered from flying for around 12 hours today.
2 comments:
I always chuckle when someone talks about wine in China and mentions Great Wall or Dynasty wines! These are below the level of "two buck chuck" and barely drinkable (if at all). There is one winery in China (out of 500!) that you must try: Grace Vineyard wines. They are located in Taigu, about a 90 minute flight Southeast of Beijing. Another, which is only exported and not available in China is China Silk Wines.
I do agree with you however...China will become a world force in the wine market in the next 5 to 10 years.
Forgive me for plugging something, but you might find this interesting: China Wine Tours. Check the Gallery page for a look at the promo video!
Thanks for your blog! Keep posting.
Thanks Marc. I did have a bottle of the 2003 merlot from Grace Vineyard and it was the best I had on the trip.
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