As noted earlier today, I was surprised to see a Cabernet Sauvignon from Huadong in Qingdao as “China revelation” at this year’s Concours Mondial. I was even more surprised to then see a Chardonnay from Changyu AFIP in Beijing get a platinum medal in the Decanter World Wine Awards. I’ve tasted Changyu AFIP wines numerous times but don’t recall anything that stunning.
Anyway, Changyu AFIP’s A8 Chardonnay 2018, which retails for CNY1400 / USD$200-plus per bottle on one website I checked, scored 97 points, the highest among the 156 wines submitted by China producers that won at least a bronze medal.
Four other China entries reached the 95-point threshold for a gold, including a Petit Manseng by Yuanrun winery, a Cabernet Sauvignon by GreatWall and a Marselan and a Syrah by Redelion winery, all from Ningxia. They all scored significantly higher than wine from operations such as Helan Qing Xue, Canaan, Tiansai, Puchang, Silver Heights and Rongyuanmei.
According to Decanter, 18,094 wines from 56 countries were evaluated by more than 170 judges during a two-week period in London for this year’s competition. Ningxia was the leading Chinese wine region, taking home 66 medals, while Shandong was second with 27. (I have no idea how many wines each region submitted.)
You can check out all the medal winners here.
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