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SINGAPORE: It’s easy to forget that not long ago, the wines of Australia and other parts of the New World, including California’s Napa Valley, did not enjoy the same prestige as they do today.
“It takes time to start making good wine,” says Wes Guild, an American sommelier who worked for chef Wolfgang Puck for a decade before assuming his current role, running Singapore’s Bistecca and Artemis restaurants.
“I don’t think they were making great wine in California starting in the 1960s,” says Guild. With a few exceptions, the same could be said for Australia.
“But with wine, every year you have a new opportunity, and with time and trial and error, after several decades of harvests, hopefully you will do well.”
Guild notes that the French and Italians have been making wine for thousands of years, on farms that have been there for generations.
They have the benefit of experience. Most of China’s aspiring winemakers, meanwhile, only planted their vines in the last 10 to 20 years.
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Of course, China is an ancient civilization and has been producing intoxicating drinks since at least the Shang dynasty, more than 3,500 years ago.
Although it is known as Chinese wine, this liquor, known as jiuIt is not made from fermented grape juice like western wine, but is produced using a variety of grains, commonly rice, wheat, or sorghum.
GRAPE EXPECTATIONS
The tastes of Chinese drinkers have expanded in parallel with the country’s economic reforms and rising wealth. Today, the country is the fifth largest consumer of wine in the world.
In response to growing local demand and encouraged by government initiatives, Western-style wine production has been on the rise in China for the past 20 years.
About 40 percent of the mainland’s wine production comes from Shandong province on the Pacific coast. The wine made here echoes the style of the famous Bordeaux region of France, which is located on the same latitude as Shandong.
The polyphenols in grapes are believed to have several positive health effects. (Photo: Unsplash / Maja Petric)
Two years ago, the owners of France’s prestigious Château Lafite Rothschild launched the first vintage from their decade-old Shandong estate, Domaine de Long Dai. Respected British wine critic Jancis Robinson described 2017 as “appropriately similar to Lafite … absolutely correct, if not absolutely stunning.”
In the province of Ningxia in northern China, prestigious wines are also grown in the Bordeaux style. This arid region is one of the poorest in the country and the government has encouraged grape cultivation to increase farmers’ income.
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Despite harsh conditions – the vines must be buried over the winter to survive the cold – about a quarter of China’s wine is now derived from grapes grown in this region, with Legacy Peak and Zhihui Yuanshi among the top producers.
Another leading Chinese winery, Grace Vineyard, took gold at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards for its 2016 Tasya’s Reserve Cabernet Franc, which sells internationally for $ 31 a bottle.
EXPORTATION QUALITY
Most of the wine produced in China is consumed domestically. So far, there is little demand beyond the country’s borders, even in greater Asia.
St Regis Singapore beverage manager Raquel Alcantara says that although jiu popular with guests, hotel restaurants have received few requests for new western-style Chinese grape wines. “We are working on introducing some to our wine list, particularly Ao Yun,” he says.
Ao Yun is the headline-grabbing Chinese red wine that has been developed over the past 12 years. Derived primarily from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and grown in the Himalayas in some of the highest vineyards in the world, it is one of the most popular high-end brands.
There are a variety of other Chinese brands and the most successful wine region is in Ningxia. Top growers include Grace Vineyard, which earned gold at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards for its Tasya’s Reserve Cabernet Franc and sells for $ 31 a bottle.
David Fiori, chief sommelier at Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford, believes the interest in Ao Yun is largely due to its novelty, as an LVMH-owned winery located in the mountains near Tibet.
But the product stands up to scrutiny, he says, and feedback from customers who have tasted the wine has been overwhelmingly positive.
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The luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy originated in ideal vineyard locations and established itself in Yunnan province. (Photo: Ao Yun Winery)
A great deal of time, effort and resources has been invested in creating a world-class winery in China.
LVMH spent several years scouring the vast Middle Kingdom in search of the perfect location, before finally settling in a series of neighboring villages situated at altitudes between 2,200m and 2,600m, on the mountainside along the Mekong River in the Yunnan desert. , protected by UNESCO. Province.
The vineyards’ proximity to the city of Shangri-La (immortalized in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon and its film adaptations) sounds romantic.
But the location was chosen for completely pragmatic reasons, as it provides not only excellent soil, but also the ability to regulate sunlight, rain, and temperature more effectively than in other parts of China, where grapes often they are victims of extremes of heat, cold, precipitation and humidity.
Winemaker Maxence Dulou explains that while initially faced with skepticism, today Ao Yun is warmly welcomed by critics and consumers alike.
“In 2016, when we introduced the 2013 vintage, our first, it was difficult to keep some people engaged. At tastings, we would hear them say, ‘Oh, I prefer my Petrus’ or any French wine, ”says Dulou, who previously practiced his art in Bordeaux.
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By awarding the brand recognition, Ao Yun won the category of best Chinese red wine at the inaugural Wine Pinnacle Awards organized by Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore last year.
More generally, connoisseurs around the world are beginning to take notice of the wines coming out of China. Chinese reds and whites won seven gold medals at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards, the world’s largest wine competition.
PASSING THE TASTE TEST
Judges in wine competitions typically taste wines “blindly”, without knowing what they are evaluating. This prevents biases or prejudices from affecting your evaluations.
To ensure that wine is judged solely on its merits, Dulou often hosts blind tastings, where Ao Yun compares himself incognito to the best French wines.
“The result is usually very positive,” he says. “It generally shows that people consider Ao Yun to be on the level of the best fine wines in the world.”
With a retail price of around S $ 500 per bottle, a price as high as its Himalayan terroir, Ao Yun is well beyond the budget of the regular wine drinker. Luckily Dulou sent me a bottle from the 2014 vintage to try.
(Photo: Unsplash / Camille Chen)
I decant the bottle twice as directed and, two hours later, serve it with a lightly seasoned sirloin steak and garlic sauteed green beans.
My first taste of Chinese wine (Western style) does not disappoint. In fact, it is very good. Deep maroon in color, with notes of black cherry, anise, green pepper, leather and jungle soil, it is fresh but bold, sophisticated but muscular.
Velvety tannins and a meaty, flavorful quality make Ao Yun ’14 an exceptional complement to beef, although I can see how it would be a good match for sashimi with soy sauce, suggests a Dulou pairing.
My experience with Ao Yun leaves me convinced that China is capable of making wine as good as France, Italy, the United States or Australia.
While many persist in the prejudiced belief that the “Made in China” appellation is synonymous with poor quality, certain Chinese wines could lead people to re-evaluate these assumptions.
And as more wine drinkers become curious, it’s safe to say that we’ll see Chinese bottles become commonplace on restaurant wine lists and collectors’ wineries for years to come.
Christian Barker is a Singapore-based journalist and editor covering luxury, travel, business, culture and men’s style.
