Grape Press: Beyond the Great Wall; Discover China's Best Wines

“Grape Press” is a regular magazine column in which we recommend wines to suit various occasions and price points.

Those of us who follow the quality of Chinese wines could be forgiven for thinking that nothing much changes. Domestic wine production remains dominated by the big three behemoths: Changyu, Dynasty and Great Wall. While these companies produce largely bulk wine, often blended with imported wine to meet demand, they also have premiumpriced products, although these too remain variable in quality.

In China, then, only a handful of largely smaller operations can claim to make drinkable, interesting wines. Judging at the Second China Wine Challenge in Shanghai in July, I happened to be on the blind-tasting panel deciding the trophy for “Best Chinese Wine.” One red stood out as having ripe fruit, careful use of oak and sensitivity in assembling a blend, all pretty rare qualities in the world of Chinese wine production. The wine turned out to be the 2009 Silver Heights Family Reserve.

But there are sizeable joint ventures whose fruits are yet to be found in bottle, like DBR Lafite’s CITIC project and Moët’s sparkling wine operation in Ningxia. In the tough Chinese viticultural landscape, Ningxia is certainly one of the places to look to for improving wines.

ONE TO QUAFF
2008 Helan Mountain Premium Classic Chardonnay, Ningxia (RMB 68, Pernod Ricard) Available at China World Summit Wing
This is a light drinker representing good value. Light green-gold in color, it has pleasant white peach and apple fruit with lifting medium acidity.

ONE TO DRINK
2008 Grace Vineyard Tasya’s Reserve Chardonnay, Shanxi (RMB 218, Torres China) Available at Maison Boulud, Sofitel
A more serious Chinese Chardonnay. Deep gold in color, the nose has lemon citrus and toasted French oak aromas buoyed by medium acidity on the palate. Good length too.

ONE TO SAVOR
2009 Silver Heights “Family Reserve,” Ningxia (RMB 276, Torres China) Available at Hilton Wangfujing, Bellagio
Emma Gao’s 2009 reds are a veritable triumph. Dark purple in color, and the nose has ripe black fruits with pleasant American oak followed up by a palate of ripe, juicy tannins, lovely acidity and attractive length.

Edward Ragg is co-founder, with Fongyee Walker, of Dragon Phoenix Wine Consulting, China’s leading independent wine consultancy and education service (www.longfengwines.com). They write for the world’s wine magazines and several publications in China.