By Jim Boyce The following info is via Melody Mast of Shanghai-based Mervin Fine Wines. Mervin — a fully licensed and foreign-owned company (WFOE) in the wine import and distribution sector — is up for sale. The operation includes an office in Shanghai, a sales team and established distribution channels. Mast says the company has [...]
Dear Readers: Again this blog has been named a finalist in the Best Wine Review Blog category in the Wine Blog Awards. If you appreciate what I do here and profit from the approach I take in terms of writing about and describing wines and providing background information of a historical, geographical, technical and philosophical [...]
By Jim Boyce Full-time sommeliers from mainland China have the chance to go abroad as part of a competition run by Wines of South Africa. The WOSA Sommelier Cup involves three rounds, starting with an online test in June and then, for those who make th…
By Jim Boyce I’m not the biggest fan of wine and food pairing given that many people tend to take it too seriously and that individual tastes differ. But with a group of friends in can be fun and that goes when using beverages from single malts to pale ales and foods from tofu burgers [...]
By Jim Boyce Inner Mongolia operation Chateau Hansen will soon launch a new ‘Red Camel’ wine that wine maker Bruno Paumard says is made in “Grand Cru style“. I tried five Hansen wines yesterday and will write about those and the winery soon, but for now a quick post about this new bottle. Paumard says [...]
By Jim Boyce China is on the verge of designating “sommelier” – “新职业” in Chinese — an official profession, says Tommy Lam, a driving forces behind the initiative. Lam says it has been a three-year project with the Department of Labor to get to this point and he is seeking help from those in the [...]
By Jim Boyce Call it the wine equivalent of Crowded House versus Air Supply, Edmund Hillary versus Steve Irwin, The Conchords versus Dame Edna and Les Patterson, the sheep versus the bilby. New Zealand and Australia wines will square off in a blind tas…
~ By Jim Boyce I sat on the judges panel for the Time Out Beijing food awards this year and one of the categories up for grabs was “best wine experience“. Beijing is tricky as a wine city. A superb range of wine is available here, top restaurants tend to have diverse lists, and it [...]
~ By Jim Boyce English wine writer Jancis Robinson has been visiting China and its wineries for more than a decade, with her most recent trip being to Ningxia last fall to taste ~50 wines and tour the region’s operations. This week I asked her a few questions about China’s wine scene (my highlights). What [...]
By Jim Boyce The second branch of South African restaurant Pinotage is set to open in Sanlitun Soho this weekend, says partner Toby Cao. The venue is directly across from the Adidas shop in Sanlitun Village and a few meters from where the Intercontinen…
By Jim Boyce Whether you interpret it as doubling your credit, drinking for half price or both, Pudao Wines in Shanghai and Beijing have an excellent offer the next few days. Charge your wine card from April 29 to May 1 in Shanghai or on April 29 and A…
By Jim Boyce Gaia Gaja of Piedmont-based winery Gaja has been to China over a dozen times since her first visit in 2005, including one trip that took her off the beaten path to backpack in Yunnan. She visited China this week and stopped by Beijing for a wine dinner — squeezing a tea tasting [...]