Tag Archives: China

Welcome to EDITION 740 of GRAPEVINE No 50-something-year old man has any business asking a 20-year old girl to kan pei. If, for some reason, you think that assertion too harsh, then I presume you would consider it alright if the same 50-something-year old man  asked his 20-year old daughter to kan pei. Lest you still think …

Tiansai of Gobi is situated in Yanqi, Bazhou prefecture, Xinjiang province. I visited, last week, for the third – or was it the fourth – time. Proprietor CHEN Lizhong and consultant winemaker LI De Mei were there and conducted a tour of the vineyard and put on a tasting. The best wine, …

This is arguably Tiansai Vineyard’s finest, best red they have produced to date. Violets, and raspberry fruit of intensity and stubborn persistence. Sweetness of ripe fruit wrapped in textured suave tannins. And delicious freshness. Full-bodied but very elegant. Decanted for an hour. This is the first vintage of Tiansai Grand …

Mid-gold. Nutty, dried cooked orange peel, cinnamon and spice. Gently sweet. Smooth, rich, and round. Very Cognac-like. Produced from the marc of chardonnay and riesling of the 2013 vintage. 41% in alcohol.  JIANG Yanjun started as winemaker at Tiansai in 2013. Apart from wine, he also makes a brandy which …

Welcome to EDITION 739 of GRAPEVINE Silk Road is situated very near Kazakhstan (two hours to drive) in scenic Yili, where the same named river flows through. Yili also has 2,000 hectares planted to lavender. The climate – and weather – in Xinjiang is so arid, there’s hardly a pest in sight. …

Silk Road owns three vineyards in Yili. Two are to the east, 20 km from the city of Yining. The third is 50 km west of the city (where flights arrive). This predominant cabernet sauvignon has 3% petit verdot. Deep coloured. Rich blackberry fruit held together by rich, smoky oak …

The origins of baijiu are shrouded in a mysterious mist. Introduction Like the vapours from which the spirit emerges, the origins of baijiu are shrouded in a mysterious mist. Some claims put its beginnings to several thousand years while others mark its origin to the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279), a period of great …

Lu Shan Tang in Xiamen, Fujian province, is the ancestral family temple of a famous Su clan. Family members have lived here since the time of the Five Dynasties, the period between the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 and the founding of the Song dynasty in 960. Lu Shan Tang …

On 29 June 2019, a first-ever dinner featuring Domaine du 1er Juin wines outside China took place in Singapore. Singapore has become the first country to import wines from Domaine du 1er Juin. To commemorate the occasion, on 29 June 2019, a dinner was held featuring wines from the Ningxia …

Wines of the Day Last Saturday, 8 June 2019, I hosted dinner for two friends who were visiting Singapore. I have known Pascal Jolivet for some 30 years and who first visited Singapore around that time. Although he started in wine as a merchant, Pascal created his own brand and …