Discovering China’s Coastal Terroir in Penglai

Masterclass at the 2025 London Wine Fair with Michael Palin, expert of Italian wine actually who recently discovered Chinese wines, and Sonya Song, founder of Longting, China's leading boutique vineyard by the sea.

We learned how China now boasts 100k hectares of vineyards, roughly the same surface area as in Germany. The huge country can use a huge range of soils, altitude, rainfall, latitude.

Since 2010 push to try different grapes, Marselan and Petit Manseng works well in Shandong in addition to classic Chard and Cabernet Franc 

These are my tasting notes.

Petit Manseng 2022

3 months of oak 

Balance sapidity and smooth ,long

Score 90

Rrp 500 rmb in China 

"Sea breeze" 2020 

Chardonnay 

3 months in New French oak 

Intense aromas Zest almonds 

Score 88

Rrp 600rmb

"Lan" Marselan 2021

Ripe fruit, plum, black cherry, cassis, still rough edges needs time 2 years perhaps

500 rmb

Score 89

Dragon label 2019

Cabernet franc

30 days on skin, plenty of tannins 

Alcohol feel (14.5%)

Needs time

Rrp 2000 rmb almost sold out 8k bottles 

"jade" late harvest petit Manseng 2021

Acidity and smooth ending 

Score 86

Rrp 287 rmb, 7 is her lucky number 

Book review: The Chinese Wine Renaissance (*****), by Janet Wang

Ms Wang at the LWF 2024

  Synopsis

The Chinese have been making wine since the days of the Silk Road and they have a rich, yet little known wine culture. Their now thriving wine market is entwined with thousands of years of fashion, poetry, and art, and offers a window into the country's vibrant history and legendary tales.

This well-researched book offers a taste of China through a wine journey, setting the rise of grape wine against the fascinating backdrop of Chinese culture. In an accessible and comprehensive tone, this guide covers the relationship between Chinese philosophy and wine, the renaissance of grape wine in modern China, the different varieties of Chinese wines, how to pair them with Chinese food and explores wine etiquette and customs.

As wines from China are spreading to our shores and our tables, this book is an essential companion for all wine lovers interested in exploring new flavours while expanding their cultural horizons.

Review

An essential book to begin to understand the role that wine has played in Chinese society for centuries. We start from mythology and archaeology, up to the economy of today and the evolution of taste among consumers.

Meet the producer: Fei Tswei, Ningxia Hui, China

Wine in China is not new, as a book I recently reviewed illustrates at length, international appreciation for Chinese wine is, and so is widespread appreciation by Chinese consumers of high quality international wines. China is already among the top 5 or 6 producers of wine in the world, and quality is improving by the day.

One example is the Fei Tswei winery in northwest China. They were present at the London Wine Fair 2024 and served as the business card for Chinese wines in London.

There are lots of problems Chinese wine has to overcome, including still too much emphasis on quantity and too many fakes that spoil the market, but I came out of this tasting convinced things are moving in the right direction.

Good wines from this producer are available in the UK and the best bottles are not cheap, but definitely worth giving it a try to expand your horizons over Chinese wines.

 
Here below my tasting notes from the wines proposed by Fei Tswei at the London Wine Fair.

Chardonnay 2021
Smooth, soft sensations prevail
Moderately long
Score 86

Chardonnay reserve 2019
Similar to the previous wine but with better balance
Score 88

Viognier 2019
Apricot nose. Good balance
Score 88

Red joyous blend 2019
Red fruit is intense, an easy wine.
Score 85

Marselan 2019
Intense nose red
Complex long
Score 89

Marselan 2020
More balanced and longer
Score 90

Merlot 2019
Intense red fruit
Complex long,mod length
Score 91

Cabernet franc 2021
Intense nose of ripe cherries
Smoother than expected if you think of cab franc from loire, long
Score 92

Syrah reserve 2019
1 year in oak
Smooth, mod complex and long
Score 89

Marselan reserve 2019
Fruit bombshell, good structure tannins still a bit rough
Mod complex, long
Score 91

Cabernet sauvignon reserve 2019
Intense red fruit, balanced, complex and long
Score 91

All these reserves Ready now, some aging potential .

Dom Perignon brunch in the sky in Hong Kong

 

A large display of lobster is what I noticed first when I entered the bright room of the Ozone Bar at the Ritz Carlton hotel, on top of the ICC tower in Kowloon, Hong Kong. They claim it is the highest bar in the world, and I can believe it.

Every Sunday they offer the "Dom Perignon Brunch": noon to 3pm, all you can eat from an immense mouth watering buffet plus all you can drink Dom Perignon.

We were there five minutes before noon, to make best use of the time without overdoing it.

Three hours in heaven, and not only because we were almost half a kilometer high above the ground. 

This time (mid-2017) they were serving the 2006 vintage. A creamy smooth champagne. It was, as expected, complex, persistent and perfectly balanced. 

Awesome pair with cold seafood, of course, but also with more structured foods like Spanish pata negra ham and roast beef.

Score 96.

Lobster is what I saw first, but I actually started my brunch with sashimi.

Yes, jamon pata negra goes well with champagne

Final touch: gold-leafed chocolate dessert

The cost of these three hours was about 1500 HKG dollars service charge included, which was roughly the RRP of a bottle of Dom Perignon in Europe at the  time. Not bad. I think I drank close to a bottle, so the food was free. And the view!