Have A Chinese Wine This Chinese New Year

Chinese wines do not have the best reputation and, for the most part, the unilateral condemnation of its quality is justified – but there are some exceptions however. You might remember our story about Grace vineyards last year (http://winetimeshk.blogspot.com/2012/10/wine-made-in-china-can-mean-quality.html) where we found some really well made Chinese wines from a winery that cares about how it’s wines are made, and cares how it is perceived on the international stage.

Finding a good Chinese wine is a lot easier than finding the proverbial ‘needle in the haystack’ but you might have to spit your way through numerous wines before you find one that you like – but then again, one probably had to do the same with Italian and French wines before they started learning about new vineyard and cellar methods that ensure the quality they produce today.

Consumption of wine in China is huge and around 80 per cent of wines consumed in China are red wines. Consumption of wine in China is still hugely dominated by locally made wines which account for almost 80 per cent of total consumption. Of the consumption of imported wines into China, France leads the way with 50 per cent of the market share, followed by Australia with around 12-15per cent.

I holiday in China frequently and more often than not, on the holiday island of Hainan. It’s China’s answer to America’s Hawaii and has beautiful golden sand beaches, numerous world class golf courses and a huge internal tourism trade. Last time I was there I bought six bottles of wine from a shop on the beach (yes, I know buying wine from a beach front shop where the weather rarely drops below 28 centigrade is not a good idea, but hey, you live and learn!) and I also noticed large numbers of people sitting on or by the beach, sharing a bottle of locally made Chinese wine.

In 2003 the Chinese government banned the use of thickeners, artificial sweeteners and colourings and other additives and the quality of wine made in China is now much better than it was before. However, there are still no restrictions on what is classified ‘wine’, that is, ‘wine’ in China does not need to be made from grapes to be called a wine.

So, while up in Shenzhen recently I took the opportunity to give a few Chinese wines a try and to my surprise I was amazed at the fact that they were pretty good. I tried five wines (I know there are only four in the pictures) and found four of them acceptable to good and one (Changyu) that was, at best, rancid and foul.

The wines themselves were Great Wall 1997, Great Wall Red Wine, Grace Vineyards Symphony White and Dynasty Red Wine. The best by far was the Great Wall 1997 which had structure and body with a nice finish that was fairly smooth and palatable. By law in China, only 20 per cent of the juice in a wine needs to be from China, meaning 80 per cent can be imported and used in the ‘blend’. I suspect that this wine has a little French wine mixed in as the aroma and palate sensation tells me so.

The next best was the Great Wall Red Wine that, albeit has a vintage written in Chinese on the bottle, is actually not a vintage per se but the year of the vine was planted. In this case it was 1995 and although the wine, on first impression was pretty decent, tasting it the following day reminded me just how far the China wine business needs to evolve as the wine was dead and vinegar-like within 24 hours.

The Symphony white from Grace Vineyards is, on the whole, a very good wine and one that I am not ashamed to think is possibly the best white wine in China – certainly it’s the best white wine I’ve tried from China. I once drank an entire bottle of Great Wall Chardonnay 1998 (this was in 2011) and my then-state of inebriation led me to believe that this wine was okay when in fact it was oxidized and pretty rough!

The Dynasty Red was drinkable but nothing special and none of the characters stood out for me. As a simple wine to drink with friends around the mahjong table this wine is fine, but for taking to a nice restaurant or in an attempt to impress friends with, I’d leave it at home on the shelf and look for something better.

Chinese New Year is a time of immense pride and a festive holiday that’s taken very seriously in Hong Kong and China – it is after all the 3 day equivalent of our western new year. It’s a time for patriotism and family and thus, I think we should all give a bottle of Chinese wine a go – if for nothing else but to get into the spirit of Chinese New Year. Where ever you are in the world this year between February 10^th and 13^th, if you have access to a bottle of Chinese wine, give it a go and get into the festive spirit.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!