The Chinese are coming!?

I read with great interest the recently posted article (see "Chinese put down Roots in Bordeaux") about a Chinese business man and wine importer buying a Chateau in Bordeaux to establish credibility. It prompted me to do a brief search to find out what the state of European style wine making in China was. I came up with the following link, but I wonder if anyone else has more information about the future of wine from China. http://www.gluckman.com/ChinaWine.html
With a firmly established reputation for contaminated products, they will have some PR work to do.

[Jenise]

Bob, I spent three weeks in China last summer and made an effort to taste Chinese wines, including the brands that a Wine Spectator article called out as being the most promising. Can't say we were impressed. The wines largely showed the kind of inconsistency you might expect when you give people who don't understand wine flavors well responsibility for achieving a certain outcome. Without European palates and management, it will be a long time before they get past just copying what they THINK wine should taste like and actually make a genuinely good product. Too, I have to wonder about the effects of rampant pollution--there's an astounding amount of particulate in the air there and ripe grapes will carry an unseemly degree of that into the crush with them. I would have to think that would significantly affect flavor in an adverse way.

Too, I have to wonder about the effects of rampant pollution--there's an astounding amount of particulate in the air there and ripe grapes will carry an unseemly degree of that into the crush with them. I would have to think that would significantly affect flavor in an adverse way.

Jenise, do NOT get me started...

[Jenise]

Jenise, do NOT get me started...

We arrived in Beijing on a rainy, and therefore clear, day. Two non-rainy days later, we couldn't see the building across the street. And so it was, everywhere....

Jenise, do NOT get me started...

We arrived in Beijing on a rainy, and therefore clear, day. Two non-rainy days later, we couldn't see the building across the street. And so it was, everywhere....

I know! The International Olympic committee is telling athletes to train extra hard because of the burning pollution in the air. WTF? I'm all for switching up the host city and spreading the love, but China isn't done with f*cking charm school yet. But like I said, PLEASE don't get me started. More to point though, I will not be buying nor drinking Chinese wines anytime soon (I did try a few bottles a couple of years back. I liked them not so much.)

Jenise, do NOT get me started...

We arrived in Beijing on a rainy, and therefore clear, day. Two non-rainy days later, we couldn't see the building across the street. And so it was, everywhere....

Beijing is one thing, but is this true over the whole country, or are there rural areas where the pollution abates (even though they are building industrial cities everywhere and develeopment is rampant)? It seems like I keep hearing about how the Chinese are going to enter the world European style wine market before too long. Is this just a conspiracy theory?

...including the brands that a Wine Spectator article called out as being the most promising.

I think that's the article written by a girl who took the Brdx tutor program with me in late 06. Jeanie? I think? I was the lone Canuck in a class of mostly Hong Kong, Singapore and Chinese. They sure knew their Bordeaux classed growths (by name that is)! It was fun, actually - nice people. I gathered from them that things are coming along in China, wrt wine.

She was an American though, or at least has has strong American ties.

To me, the question is whether China can really develop their wine industry without having a sizeable domestic market. Official stats indicate wine drinking is on the rise, but I wonder if this is driven by a relatively small number of the newly affluent.

The modern supermarket down the street has a decent wine section, mostly domestic with some selections from Chile, Australia, France, Spain and California (names I've never heard of) but I have rarely seen anyone buy any in the month since I've moved here. Carrefour's selection wasn't much better - White Zin from Beringer, for example. Plus once you get used to local prices, wine just seems darned expensive. I wouldn't have blinked at paying $15-20 dollar for a bottle of wine back home in the U.S., but it feels like too much of a luxury item here in China. Folks here mostly drink beer -- downed in copious quantities whenever I've eaten out at neighborhood restaurants -- and hard liquor.

Regarding European style management: even though many of the wineries here are joint ventures with French, Austrians, Australians, etc. the quality still isn't there.