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Grape Wall of China recently released their results for the best wines retailing in China for under RMB 100. Next dinner party at our place, we expect we'll be seeing some of these proffered at the door. A dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 23 red wines and 21 white wines that retail for less than RMB100 in China. They rated each out of 20 points, while the consumers had four choices - “love it“, “like it“, “dislike it” or “hate it“.
TOP 10 REDS
1.Cedar Creek (Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Australia / Top Cellar, RMB92
2. Callia Alta (Shiraz, Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Torres, RMB72
3. Santa Carolina (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2007, Chile / Aussino, RMB98
4. Las Condes (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Chile / EMW, RMB86
5. (tie) Leopard’s Leap: The Lookout (Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cinsault) 2006, South Africa / Aussino, RMB95 AND Concha y Toro Frontera (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Chile / Summergate, RMB79
7. Michel Torino (Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Palette, RMB98
8. Domaine du Landeyran AOC St. Chinian (Grenache, Syrah) 2005, France / BJ Winestore, RMB85
9. Foot of Africa (Pinotage) 2006, South Africa / Torres, RMB99
10. Catena “Retamo” (Bonarda, Malbec) 2007, Argentina / Summergate, RMB8
TOP 10 WHITES
1. (tie) Concha y Toro Frontera (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Summergate, RMB79 and
Bushman’s Gully (Semillon, Chardonnay) 2008, Australia / Links, RMB92
3. Stella Solaris (Chardonnay) 2006, Chile / Top Cellar, RMB62
4. Heartland Stickleback White (Chardonnay, Verdelho, Semillon) 2006, Australia / Palette, RMB99
5. Zonin Terre Palladiane Soave DOC (Garganega, Trebbiano) 2007, Italy / Torres, RMB96
6. (tie) Chateau Roque-Peyre AOC (Montravel Sauvignon-Semillon) 2007, France / BJ Winestore, RMB89 and French Paradox Reserve (Viognier) 2006, France / French Wine Paradox, RMB90
8. San Medin (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Torres, RMB91
9. Santa Rita 120 (Sauvignon Blanc) 2008, Chile / ASC, RMB93
10. (tie) Farnese Primo Malvasia IGT (Malvasia) 2007, Italy / ASC, RMB92 and
Santa Helena Reserva (Chardonnay) 2005, Chile / Links, RMB96
Check out more results for red and white wines from the consumer panel and the combined panel.
Photo by Rebekah Pothaar.
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Probably the biggest piece of rubbish tasting EVER put together.
They tasted 23 wines. All of them made it to the top 10 list of wines under 100rmb in China!
So, approx 0.1% of all wines in China under 100rmb were tasted, yet this is the best of them.
@ matryan, they tasted 46 bottles of wine: 23 red and 23 white, actually. Obviously a small sampling, but I think "biggest piece of rubbish tasting EVER put together," is a bit much.Send me the link to where you are getting your approx 0.1 percentages from, I would like to see them, thanks.
"A dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 23 red and white wines "
Pretty clear from this that they tasted a total of 23 red and white wines. It does not state 23 of each, or 23 Red and 23 White wines. Maybe a mis-interpretation, however, even if it was 46, that by my calculations is less than 1% of the total available. I happen to know a bit about the game, and i could find you at least 2000 wines under 100rmb without trying to hard.
Bit of a shame that it appears they did not include any Chinese wine at all in this. IF they had have included the Grace, i'm sure it would have beaten 1/2 the rubbish tht made the list.
Anyway, looked at the site, no real famous wine guys included. Someone like Marcus or Steve Mack should have been in there if it was a true panel.
Seems to have been done 1/2 arsed if you ask me. Could have been a good test, it wasn't.
@matryan, you've still provided no links to any articles providing evidence that backs up your complaints or presents you as any sort of authority on the wine industry...1/2 arsed whinging if you ask me.
Where are you getting your percentages from on which you are basing your calculations?
Did they forget to rate your favorite Chinese wine? Feel free to add your constructive additions to the wine selection to inform Shanghaiist readers of what they should really be drinking.
The judges tasted 44 wines - 21 white and 23 red.
The wines were submitted by the importers. Each one was limited to to a maximum of 4 wines (2 red and 2 white) and asked to submit no more than 2 wines from any one country. Given that most big distributors participated - ASC, Aussino, Torres, Summergate, and so on - and that they represent 100s if not 1000s of wines that retail for under RMB100, our sample is significant. (I assume these distributors gave us what they considered their best wines for that price point.)
Re: "Bit of a shame that it appears they did not include any Chinese wine at all in this."
The distributors decided which wines to submit. They did not submit any wines from China. They submitted wines from Italy, France, Spain, the United States, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, and Australia.
"Seems to have been done 1/2 arsed if you ask me. Could have been a good test, it wasn't."
The contest was devised by three directors who drew on the advice of over a dozen people in the wine industry. Details on this, and on the guidelines for distributors, are included on the web site and answer the doubts you raise above.
Cheers, Boyce
I'm just shocked Great Wall finally moved out of 1998 and FINALLY have a vintage in 2000!!!!
I mean, was it possible that GW had that many grapes to have '98s from '98 until today????
I think they've been asked that many times. In China, there are no laws requiring the labels to have any reference whatsoever to what the year of production is. Therefore, they have said in the past that it is a reference to BIN 1998 (or 1988 etc..) NOT the actual year of bottling.
"A dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 23 red and white wines..."
Does make it sound like only 23 wines were tasted.
Only by going to the links at the end helped clarify that, and only then does this seem more legitimate than this blog entry seemed to make it. Nonetheless, a good read. Interesting to see that Grace Vineyards' CEO Judy Leissner was part of the panel of judges.
Maybe Shanghai needs its own real tasting from wines readily available here in Shanghai...and none of that under 39rmb crap.
@yu888,
23 red and 21 white wines were tasted.
Also, Judy Leissner is a contributor to Grape Wall blog, but she was not a judge in the wine contest. The list of expert judges is here:
http://www.grapewallofchina.com/2009/03/09/the-grape-wall-challenge-the-expert-wine-panel/
Cheers, Boyce
Judy's wine should have been included. The basic white (Chardonnay) is sensational for the price.
To Rebekah, if you don't think i could easily find a couple of thou' wines under 100 rmb, then you need to have a better look around.
This article probably leaves a fair bit out from the original tasting which does make it sound a bit amateurish, it sounds as though ONLY 23 wines in total were tasted, and NOWHERE does it mention that the suppliers were asked to only supply their best.
Even still, i stand by my words. This COULD have been an interesting tasting if it was done properly, still does not seem like it was. A lot of gaps.
Mei Yo Grace, Mei Yo Xinjiang Wine, Mei yo wine from 95% of the importers in China. There are now 185 importers in Shanghai alone selling wine!!!
@ matryan, thanks for your suggestions. Your tastes sound a little more broad and tolerant than mine, but I appreciate hearing your lively opinions.
matryan,
Did you read the details of how the Grape Wall Challenge was organized? I wonder, because you didn't seem to read my message above: distributors submitted the wines. Torres distributes Grace and decided to not enter it. In a future challenge, perhaps they will, but it is not up to us to dictate to one distributor, and not the others, which wines they submit.
As for the event having "gaps" and "amateurish", I have no idea even where to start. Every contest has limits, but we worked with many people to run this one as fairly and smoothly as possible, and the distributors, media, and wine experts to whom we talked found it worthwhile. If you are genuinely interested in the details behind this contest, you know how to contact me.
Cheers, Boyce