Winederbar! | German Riesling ‘best in show’ at Wine 100 contest in China

By Jim Boyce | Results of the fifth annual Wine100 contest are out and a German Riesling has emerged from the nearly 800 entries to take top spot. There were also 57 gold, 110 silver and 240 bronze medals given by the 30 judges from China and abroad who gathered in Shanghai last week to try wines from 18 countries.

“Best in show” honors, as well as those for best white and best Riesling, went to Fritz Haag Brauneberger Riesling Kabinett 2013 (福耕酒庄布朗悠芙日冕葡萄园雷司令,莫舍尔白葡萄酒 2013), distributed by Summergate (美夏国际酒业).

This year’s contest had more than 100 local entries, with Ho-lan Soul Cabernet Sauvignon Organic Dry Red 2012 (贺兰神有机赤霞珠干红葡萄酒 2012) from Ningxia winning as best Chinese wine.

Wine100 took three days and might be compared to The World Cup. The first two days are like the round-robin stages as judges swirl, sniff and gargle wines, register individual comments and scores, and then discuss them. Less than 10 percent of the entries receive the 95 points needed for a gold medal. The third day features knockout rounds of gold medal winners arranged by category–say Rieslings or Cabernets or sweet wines–and steadily narrowed to a “best of show” flight that had a sparkling, a white, a red and a fortified this year. Judges tasted about 80 wines per day.

The panel heads were Frankie Zhou, Fongyee Walker, Robert Joseph, Yang Lu and Jane Skilton, with Andrew Caillard, founding chairman of Wine100, and Dave Brookes overseeing the process and Samuel Hua the overall organizer. David Jiang founded Wine 100 in 2011 after helping an airline overhaul its service systems, including its wine selections, while working for consulting firm McKinsey.

I attended this year’s Wine100 at the invitation of Caillard and am writing a long piece to explain the inner workings of such a contest, including the wine, people and systems involved. I tried to put myself into a wine consumer / blogger frame of mind during the three days and will write on the good, the bad and the ugly (the tasty?) from that view.

Here are the key winners of this year’s contest as listed by Wine100:

Best Riesling / Best White / Best Wine of the Show
Fritz Haag Brauneberger Riesling Kabinett, Mosel (SC) 2013 / 福耕酒庄布朗悠芙日冕葡萄园雷司令,莫舍尔白葡萄酒 2013
Summergate / 美夏国际酒业

Best Shiraz / Best Red / Best Australian Red
Tahbilk ESP Shiraz 2010 / 德宝酒庄艾斯普西拉红葡萄酒 2010
Riversdale / 瑞福斯酒业

Best U.S. / Best Cabernet Sauvignon
Louis Martini Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Red Wine 2013 / 路易马天尼纳帕赤霞珠干红葡萄酒 2013
E.J. Gallo / 美国嘉露酒庄

Best New Zealand
Babich The Patriarch 2013 / 百祺元老干红葡萄酒 2013
Babich / 新西兰百碧祺酒庄

Best Italian
Cantine Riondo Castelforte Amarone Della Valpolicella DOCG 2012
Cantine Riondo SpA

Best Austrian
Erwin Sabathi Leutschacher Sauvignon Blanc White Wine 2015
Erwin Sabathi / 最佳法国葡萄酒

Best French
Joseph Mellot Tronsec, Pouilly Fume AOC (D) 2014 / 约瑟夫米罗甘藤白, 普伊芙美 AOC (D) 2014
Summergate / 美夏国际酒业

Best Sauvignon Blanc
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2015 / 新玛利庄园酒窖特选苏维翁白葡萄酒 2015
Summergate / 美夏国际酒业

Best Aromatic
Antonutti Traminer Aromatico White 2015 / 安东努蒂琼瑶浆干白葡萄酒 2015
Boutique Wines Asia / 派勋葡萄酒贸易 (上海) 有限公司

Best Fortified
Blandy’s Alvada 5 Years Fortified NV / 布兰迪阿瓦达加强酒 NV
Boutique Wines Asia / 派勋葡萄酒贸易(上海)有限公司

Best Sparkling
Champagne H. Goutorbe Cuvee Millesime 2006 / 古特耶特级年份香槟 2006
Argent Ciel Trading / 爱爵希尔商贸有限公司

Best Chinese
Ho-lan Soul Cabernet Sauvignon Organic Dry Red 2012 / 贺兰神有机赤霞珠干红葡萄酒 2012
Ho-Lan Soul / 贺兰神 (宁夏) 国际葡萄酒庄有限公司

WINE100 best values

Best Value Spanish White
Vinas Del Vero Gewürztraminer Dry White 2015 / 维洛葡萄园荟萃琼瑶浆干白葡萄酒 2015
Gonzalez Byass S.A. / 西班牙冈萨雷比亚斯股份有限公司

Best Value Dessert
Brown Brothers Moscato Sparkling NV / 布琅兄弟莫斯卡托起泡酒 NV
ASC / 圣皮尔精品酒业

Best Value Spanish Red
Beronia Reserva Dry Red 2011 / 贝尔莱珍藏干红葡萄酒 2011
Yesmywine / 也买酒

Best Value Chinese Red
Xixia King Envoy Cabernet Gernischt Dry Red 2013 / 西夏王外交使者蛇龙珠干红葡萄酒 2013
Helan Shandong Import & Export / 贺兰山东麓进出口有限公司

Best Value Chinese Rose
Niya Shiraz Rose 2015 / 尼雅西拉桃红葡萄酒 2015
Citic GuoAn Wine / 中信国安葡萄酒业股份有限公司

Best Value New Zealand White
Sileni Cellar Selection Riesling Marlborough White 2015 / 思兰尼酒窖精选雷司令白葡萄酒 2015
Enoteca Shanghai / 爱诺特卡酒业贸易 (上海)  有限公司

Best Value Australian Red
Taylors Estate Shiraz Red 2014 / 泰勒氏庄园臻选设拉子红葡萄酒 2014
ASC  / 圣皮尔精品酒业

Best Value Austrian White
Winkler-Hermaden Sauvignon Blanc “Steirische Klassik” White 2015
Winkler-Hermaden

Best Value Italian Red
Clarivs Rosso Venezia Dry Red 2012 / 卡拉斯干红葡萄酒 2012
Damien Information Consulting Service (Hangzhou) / 戴米恩信息咨询服务 (杭州) 有限公司

Best Value South Africa
     Nederburg The Winemaster’s Reserve Shiraz Red 2013 / 尼德堡酒师特酿设拉子红葡萄酒 2013
     ASC / 圣皮尔精品酒业

Best Value New Zealand Red
Phoeland Dry Red 2015 / 妃兰干红葡萄酒 2015
Shanghai Chunyi Industry / 上海醇谊实业有限公司

Best Value French
Listel Gris Grain de Gris Rose 2014 丽斯特桃红葡萄酒 2014
Castel Wine (China) / 卡思黛乐酒业 (中国) 有限公司

Best Value Italian White
Villa Medoro Pecorino Bianco–Colli Aprutini IGT 2015 / 梅多洛庄园 阿布鲁天尼山佩科里诺白葡萄酒 IGT 2015
Insider International (Shanghai) / 知机国际贸易 (上海) 有限公司

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