Grape & grain: Grace Vineyard barrels first whisky
They say the longer you wait for something, the more you appreciate it. The Grace Vineyard team seemed quite appreciative last weekend after barreling its …
Ningxia terroir: Shocking dinner with Winemaker Deng
The most shocking thing at a recent wine dinner with Deng Zhongxiang wasn’t that he consults for a whopping eight wineries in Ningxia. Or that …
Bubble up: Ningxia’s Helan Qingxue makes sparkling wine
One of China’s best-known winemakers is making something that fits her personality: bubbly Zhang Jing of Ningxia-based Helan Qingxue is working on her first batch …
Double down: Grape Wall & Merchants host Marselan fests in Beijing & Shanghai
Good wine, good music, good weather, good people. That all added up to good vibes at this year’s World Marselan Day party on April 22 …
Circa 1692: Spier Wine Dinner in Beijing
It had been ages since I attended a wine dinner–other than my own Grape Wall of China get-togethers–so the recent Spier event in Beijing was …
YGC Represent! Young Chinese Winemakers Team Up
“What is this era’s defining wine style?” “What is the true nature of the country’s terroir?” “What are the limits of making wine?” These are …
Q&8 | Simone Incontro on natural wine, Chinese consumers & more
I interviewed Simone Incontro, the China rep for Veronafiere and its trade fair Wine to Asia, for a recent Wine Searcher article on the rise …
Q&8 | Ian Dai on Chinese terroir, niche wines & global dreams
I interviewed Ian Dai, who makes wine in Ningxia, Yunnan, Hebei and elsewhere under the label Xiao Pu aka Petit Garden, for this Wine Searcher …
Flashback: Chinese Wines 15 Years Ago
Fifteen years ago, I organized a tasting of nine Chinese wines in Beijing. Here is that post paired with some ‘where are they now?’ updates–in …
198: The Number of the Boozst!
The algorithm always gets you. Watch a few “buy six bottles of alcohol for RMB198!” videos on WeChat and suddenly more are popping up left, …