By Jim Boyce

Wine from Myanmar is rare here so I jumped at a recent invitation to try some during a dinner at Temple in Beijing. I need little encouragement to visit Temple, given everything from the surroundings to the service, so these bottles made it even more fun.

We tried four wines from Red Mountain Estate, founded in 2002 beside Inle Lake at an altitude of ~1000 meters. They ranged from an off-dry rose some saw as a nice summer tipple to a pungent tawny port made solely from Syrah grapes.

My favorite: Sauvignon Blanc 2013. It had plenty of tell-tale vegetative aromas, including asparagus, that mellowed in the glass. I found the body fresh, with a bit of zing, and would happily drink this one again.

For a bit of regional competition, we tried a Cabernet-Shiraz made by Grover, the only Indian label available in China as far as I know. (It’s distributed by China Wine & Spirits and available at The Loop for rmb130). This was competently made, with lots of intense berry aroma and some spiciness at the finish.

(Many thanks to Michael and Joanna Crain for sharing their stock of Myanmar wines.)

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