Promoted as good for he health and improving memory, consumption of wine is rocketing.
Posted on 01/19/2008 7:03:22 AM PST by JACKRUSSELL
We are an hour from Beijing.
The motorway is all but deserted and, apart from far-off hills and snowy mountains, the surrounding countryside is flat and nondescript.
The occasional dreary town flashes past, its tower blocks lit by the last of the day's feeble, wintry sun.
Suddenly, I spot a pair of jaunty-looking turrets peeking from behind some trees. We round the corner and there, in all its remarkable Loire Valley-like glory stands Château Changyu.
Beside me, Austrian winemaker Lenz Moser, with whom I'm travelling, gives a whistle of astonishment. "I've seen photos of this place," he whispers, "but I had no idea of the scale.
This is a real statement of intent." In the 1950s, Chairman Mao told the Chinese to "make great efforts to develop the grape and wine production and let the people drink more wine".
The result of this, I am surprised to learn, is that China is the sixth largest wine-producing country in the world. Wine is promoted as good for the health and improving the memory, and domestic consumption is rocketing.
Château Changyu AFIP Global Beijing (to give it its full cumbersome title) opened in June last year.
It is one of four winemaking estates belonging to the Changyu Company, China's largest and longest-established wine producer, founded in 1892 by Zhang Bishi. The three other properties are a similar château in Yantai; an estate dedicated to Icewine (the largest of its kind in the world); and Changyu Kely Estate in New Zealand.
Moser knows the company well. He not only exports his celebrated Grüner Veltliner to China, he imports Changyu's wines to Europe, including some that he and Iain Muggoch of Bibendum, his partners in London, blend especially for the UK market.
"When we arrived, the wines were thin and oxidised and nothing like those we enjoy in Europe," he says. "Iain said they weren't good enough, but now he's excited. And nearly all the grapes are familiar - Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Ugni Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and so on. Even the less well-known Cabernet Gemischt is no more than a spicy, aromatic cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc."
We are conducted through the château's vast marble-halls by Changyu's export manager, Mrs Tan Shao Yun. She looks as if she's about to expire with pride as she shows us the gleaming state-of-the-art winery ("European winemakers would die for equipment like this," sighs Moser), the striking 2,000 square metre faux-medieval cellar (suits of armour guarding the entrance), the tasting room and the wine museum.
"We make red and white wine, and Champagne-method sparkling wine, Icewine and brandy," a beaming Mrs Tan tells us. "Our cultural implication is to compete with foreign wine companies and to excel in quality, to win honour for the motherland and the people."
The museum is fascinating. I discover that an Englishman, a Mr Ohlin, was employed in 1893 as Changyu's first foreign winemaker. He signed a 20-year contract and sent for his family to join him. Unfortunately, he then died from "misdiagnosed toothache" and his place was taken first by an Austrian and then a Dutchman.
A sign explains that the company's four properties are: "Top-notch, comprehensive and fashionable tourism châteaux, with an aristocratic leisurely style serving leaders, statesmen, business tycoons, foreign friends and medium and high-end fashionable white collars that positively enjoy life." It is heartening to know that Moser and I are in the right place.
We taste the wines produced from the château's own vineyards - two reds and a white - along with an Icewine and a Noble Dragon red and white, the Moser/Bibendum blends on sale in the UK.
These latter two are a surprisingly enjoyable, easy-drinking pair and a snip at around £6 a bottle. The red is fruity and spicy, the white is off-dry yet crisp and refreshing.
The 2004 Château Changyu Chardonnay is OK, with hints of honey and buttery fruit, but it's steep at around £35 a bottle and has a curious finish.
The top red, the 2002 Château Changyu Master's Choice - 100% Cabernet Sauvignon - is clearly well made, with tasty blackcurrant and bitter cherry fruit, and an austere finish. But it isn't worth the £70 they're asking for.
It's the second red, the 2002 Château Changyu Premium Wine (also a Cabernet), that hits the bull's-eye, with buckets of voluptuous cassis fruit and spicy cedar wood.
At £40 a pop, it would struggle against the competition in the UK, but, taken in isolation, it's impressive. It's aged in French oak and resolutely Bordeaux in style and I'm itching to show it in a blind tasting.
The Icewine, made from Vidal, is lusciously, uncloyingly sweet and an utter delight. The Canadians, if not the Germans, should be quaking in their boots.
There is no reason why the Chinese shouldn't make fine wine. They have varied terroirs, high-quality fruit, European advisers and investment, brand-new equipment and, above all, the desire.
The Beijing Olympics later this year should also bring more customers.
"I'm so excited about China's future," says Moser. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. And I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that we're looking at a second Chile."
Promoted as good for he health and improving memory, consumption of wine is rocketing.
Alcohol is a solvent that may chemically change the nature of some toxins, good or bad, but it will only "kill" bacteria.
I'd be worried about what the "additives" would be introduced to modify taste, color and clarity. For some reason I have this mental picture of Prestone containers beside every aging barrel.
Yes, the sulfite warning should now be extended to cadmium, lead, arsenic, and others. Can you see the wine critics going “and the slight tinge of cadmium colors the sulfite bouquet with hints of cherries and oak...”
wine ping
Oooohhh the stories I could tell....arrggghhh!
It's been a long while so my input is a bit dated, but some years ago I went to a blind tasting of sparkling wines that featured a Chinese entry; the Chinese entry was easily distinguished by everyone since it was putrid. I believe that it was one time that I could have legitimately used the word "skunky" to describe a wine.
I have to admit to some skepticism about using a British newspaper as a source of reliable information about food or wine. ;-)
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