Grape Press: Cellar from Down Under; Latour, Lafite, and China; Canada, Chinese food, and wine

Some China-related wine info from the web…

A cellar – and a criticism – from Down Under

The Age reports that Australian winery Yabby Lake has opened three “cellar doors” in Guangdong:

…. rather than treading the usual path and supplying wine to a distributor in either China or Hong Kong, Yabby Lake has entered into a retail partnership with an agent, the WOHE Wine Company. The cellar doors they have opened in three of the province’s biggest cities are a little bit like the wine-tasting and retail stores you see in airport concourses. “They are places where people can relax,” says Matthews. “They are classy, neat and friendly, and the tastings are also associated with some printed material and a film we show about our winery.”

The article also cites associate professor Fang Liu, of the University of Western Australia’s business school, as saying that for Chinese consumers wine is more about image over taste. “It is associated with elegance, wealth, style, sophistication…. It is more a statement about the country of origin and how that reflects on you personally.” And he says France has the edge here.

He is also quoted as criticizing Australian wine labels: “Bilingual labelling is good; it enhances Chinese understanding. And what’s wrong with using a really good Chinese name on the label? Australian names mean nothing to Chinese wine drinkers. And so many of the label colours are wrong. None of the Australian wine labels are really liked by the Chinese.”

Even labels with a dragon?

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Canucks pair wine and Chinese food

While this article is a bit over the top, the information about a project in Canada to pair wine with Chinese food is nevertheless interesting.

With Tony Aspler, wine educator and author, and Patrick Lin, senior chef at Metropolitan Hotels, [restaurateur and hotel president Henry] Wu embarked on a series of eight-course dinners over four nights last year to see what wines work best with traditional Cantonese fare.

They tried two to three wines per dish, nearing 100 tastings in total….

Roger Dagorn, master sommelier and maitre d’hotel at New York City’s Chanterelle restaurant, contributed his expertise to the study later on. The team presented their findings at the 2008 conference of the James Beard Association, a culinary appreciation society.

The article also states that, “Two years ago, [Wu] brought Chablis to a celebrated restaurant in Hong Kong, only to find that the waiter had never seen a bottle of white wine before.” Um, really? I mean, anyone who has been to 7-ELEVEN has seen a bottle of white wine before.

Anyway, see here for info on a project by Ch’ng Poh-Tiong, launched in Beijing  last year, pair wine and Chinese food.

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Chinese buyers help keep Latour, Lafite prices lofty

Finally, the Telegraph reports that in the midst of the global economic crisis, Chinese wine buyers have been key to supporting the prices of premium brands such as Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour:

The stock market may have enjoyed a rally and house prices appear to have stabilised, but wine is set for a bumper year, according to dealers, thanks mostly to Chinese buyers.

The price of cases of Chateau Latour 2008, when it was released onto the market in May, was £1,590. It has since climbed to £3,000. A case of 12 bottles of Chateau Lafite Rothschild was initially priced at £1,950 but has raced up to £3,500 in just over two months, as large pools of buyers chase a dwindling supply of bottles.

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