From Michael Veseth's Grape Expectations
I've never tasted Chinese wine, but that's going to change quite soon. I have two bottles, both hand-carried from China by my former student Brian West. One is a 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon from China's oldest winery, Changyu (founded in 1892). The other is a 2003 Tasya's Reserve Cabernet Franc from what many people say is China's best winery, Grace Vineyard (or Shanxi Grace Vineyard to differentiate it from a Japanese winery with the same name -- Shanxi is the region of China where Grace Vineyard is located).
I have heard a lot of stories about Chinese wine -- about how bad it is, how prestige-seeking Shanghai yuppies mix expensive first growth Bordeaux with Coca Cola and of vast vineyards in China that threaten to flood world markets with cheap wine (as Chinese exports have flooded some other markets already). The prospect of drinking Chinese wine for the first time gave me an incentive to see what I could find out about the Chinese wine industry and market. Here is a brief account of what I have learned.
The complete article is available at Michael Veseth's Grape Expectations
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Now, Super-wine to boost your lifespan
London, Jan 8 (ANI): The health benefits of wine have since long been known, but now fans of the fruity cocktail may have something new to cheer about, for Chinese scientists have made a wine made from genetically engineered grapes which might help boost the drinkers longevity.
Yuejin Wang and colleagues at the Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Yangling, Shaanxi province, China, have produced a grapevine six times richer in resveratrol the compound in red wine associated with health benefits.
The researchers made the wine equipped it with an extra gene from a wild Chinese vine, reports New Scientist.
Vitus pseudoreticulata has an unusual variant of the stilbene synthase gene, which triggers resveratrol production.
The team plans to make wine from the GM (Genetically Engineered) vine, although their major goal is to make grapevines more resistant to fungus, which is kept in check by resveratrol. (ANI)
Yuejin Wang and colleagues at the Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Yangling, Shaanxi province, China, have produced a grapevine six times richer in resveratrol the compound in red wine associated with health benefits.
The researchers made the wine equipped it with an extra gene from a wild Chinese vine, reports New Scientist.
Vitus pseudoreticulata has an unusual variant of the stilbene synthase gene, which triggers resveratrol production.
The team plans to make wine from the GM (Genetically Engineered) vine, although their major goal is to make grapevines more resistant to fungus, which is kept in check by resveratrol. (ANI)
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Chinese Wine Ceremony
From CRIEnglish.com
A Chinese traditional "wine ceremony" was held on Sunday at Southwest University of southwestern China's Chongqing municipality to remind people of the country's traditional culture at the time of Christmas.
Students wearing Han-style clothes held a traditional Chinese "wine ceremony" at Southwest University in Chongqing on Sunday, December 23, 2007. [Photo: Chongqing Evening News]
Wearing Han-style clothes, more than 20 students, respectively playing the "hosts" and "guests", revived the wine ceremony in front of the Confucius sculpture in the university, local Chongqing Evening News reported.
Taking two bows to "hosts" with cups held to their waists, the "guests" drank rice wine slowly after "hosts" requited with hands folded together in front. The wine in the cup shouldn't be drunk up at once so as to show respect to the "hosts". The whole ceremony lasted nearly two hours with twelve steps including welcoming guests, washing cups, obeisance etiquettes, drinking wine and reciting classic poems.
According to the principal student, "wine ceremony" was an academic ceremony in ancient China. Local sages are invited to the grand ceremony in midwinter every year. The ceremony showed respect to knowledge and people with talents. The students hoped to promote traditional Chinese culture and recall respect for classical culture by this activity.
As the ceremony has almost been lost since the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), the students held the ceremony according to ancient books from library. The Han-style clothes they wore were also self-designed referring to historical information.
A Chinese traditional "wine ceremony" was held on Sunday at Southwest University of southwestern China's Chongqing municipality to remind people of the country's traditional culture at the time of Christmas.
Students wearing Han-style clothes held a traditional Chinese "wine ceremony" at Southwest University in Chongqing on Sunday, December 23, 2007. [Photo: Chongqing Evening News]
Wearing Han-style clothes, more than 20 students, respectively playing the "hosts" and "guests", revived the wine ceremony in front of the Confucius sculpture in the university, local Chongqing Evening News reported.
Taking two bows to "hosts" with cups held to their waists, the "guests" drank rice wine slowly after "hosts" requited with hands folded together in front. The wine in the cup shouldn't be drunk up at once so as to show respect to the "hosts". The whole ceremony lasted nearly two hours with twelve steps including welcoming guests, washing cups, obeisance etiquettes, drinking wine and reciting classic poems.
According to the principal student, "wine ceremony" was an academic ceremony in ancient China. Local sages are invited to the grand ceremony in midwinter every year. The ceremony showed respect to knowledge and people with talents. The students hoped to promote traditional Chinese culture and recall respect for classical culture by this activity.
As the ceremony has almost been lost since the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), the students held the ceremony according to ancient books from library. The Han-style clothes they wore were also self-designed referring to historical information.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
An Interview with Jancis Robinson
November 12th, 2007 by GrapeRadio Bunch in Discussion, Podcast
Unless you have been on a desert island for the past 20 years, the name Jancis Robinson will need no introduction. However, for those of you who have unfortunately been marooned, here is a brief introduction.
Since 1975, Jancis has been one of the preeminent voices in the world of wine. A Master of Wine, author of several books – most notably a massive tome called The Oxford Companion to Wine – as well as several television shows and other broadcast media, Jancis is considered to be the one of the most (if not the most) prolific wine writers on the planet.
Join us as we talk with Jancis about wine, her career, her colleagues, and her huge impact on a generation and a half of wine consumers.
For more information on Jancis Robinson: www.jancisrobinson.com
To hear an excerpt from this interview click here
To listen to the entire interview from Grape Radio click here.
Unless you have been on a desert island for the past 20 years, the name Jancis Robinson will need no introduction. However, for those of you who have unfortunately been marooned, here is a brief introduction.
Since 1975, Jancis has been one of the preeminent voices in the world of wine. A Master of Wine, author of several books – most notably a massive tome called The Oxford Companion to Wine – as well as several television shows and other broadcast media, Jancis is considered to be the one of the most (if not the most) prolific wine writers on the planet.
Join us as we talk with Jancis about wine, her career, her colleagues, and her huge impact on a generation and a half of wine consumers.
For more information on Jancis Robinson: www.jancisrobinson.com
To hear an excerpt from this interview click here
To listen to the entire interview from Grape Radio click here.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
New China Wine Tours Video
We have just added a beautiful new video to the China Wine Tours site. Please visit the gallery page and enjoy! You will need to have Quicktime installed in your browser, so be sure to click the "install" link at the top of the page if it opens. If you are unable to do that, you can click the individual file for your internet speed (or right-click to download to your computer)
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Chinese Tipplers Discover Wine
From oregonmag.com
A Chinese government study reports that Chinese wine consumption will grow 15% over the next five years. Most of this consumption will be fueled by domestic producers who are now learning the art of premium dry wine output. The government claims Chinese currently consume more beer per capita than any other nation. Germany and Canada might well argue this point. Current Chinese wine consumption is 0.4 liter a year per capita, compared to a global wine drinking norm of seven liters per capita
A Chinese government study reports that Chinese wine consumption will grow 15% over the next five years. Most of this consumption will be fueled by domestic producers who are now learning the art of premium dry wine output. The government claims Chinese currently consume more beer per capita than any other nation. Germany and Canada might well argue this point. Current Chinese wine consumption is 0.4 liter a year per capita, compared to a global wine drinking norm of seven liters per capita
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
China Wine Tours on "Let's Dine Out" radio show
China Wine Tours appeared on the "Let's Dine Out" radio show on August 11, 2007 to talk about Chinese wine and the tour coming up in March of 2008.
To hear the interview click here. (17.5mb mp3 file)
To hear the interview click here. (17.5mb mp3 file)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
