Wine reflections from a trip to Shanghai, China

[David M. Bueker]

Just a few random thoughts:

Great Wall red is now (barely) drinkable. It is possible to use it for a business toast and not immediately spit it up on the guest of honor. I had a little bit of it and survived, but I saw what even moderate amounts of it did to some of my co-workers, and am glad I only sipped.

Restaurant wine prices for imported wines are higher than in other parts of the world. $15 for a glass of Chateau St. Michelle Riesling...$18 for a glass of Rosemount Estate Shiraz...etc.

The cultural bias towards red wines means repeatedly lousy matches with the food. The food is mostly white wine friendly. When not at a business dinner I drank beer.

Counterfeit wines are for sale everywhere. I saw clearly bogus Pavie, Leoville Poyferre and others (no Lafite). I was especially amused at the Pavie with the monotone labels (Pavie has a multi colored label) and the Leoville Las Cases where Leoville was short an 'l'.

And virtually all the wines are pre-cooked for you. Bright, hot lights shine on the fake trophy bottles.

a true wine culture in China is going to be a while.

Counterfeit wines are for sale everywhere. I saw clearly bogus Pavie, Leoville Poyferre and others (no Lafite). I was especially amused at the Pavie with the monotone labels (Pavie has a multi colored label) and the Leoville Las Cases where Leoville was short an 'l'.

With fashion/handbags/etc lots of people know when they are buying fakes but don't care because it's so much cheaper and close enough.

But I guess these counterfeit wines were not necessarily cheap? Any idea of whether people knew they were fake but didn't care because it still fit well into the social ritual?

[David M. Bueker]

Didn't see people drinking the fakes, just perusing them, so no insight as to motivations/understanding.

The fake Pavie was the equivalent of $700 US.

Didn't see people drinking the fakes, just perusing them, so no insight as to motivations/understanding.

The fake Pavie was the equivalent of $700 US.

Somebody is drinking the good stuff in China. They are through their purchases keeping the Bordeaux market at a very high price level.