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After a good ten hours of flying, crammed into the economy class of the Boeing 747, seven of more than 300 passengers are happy to finally be in Beijing, or rather in Beijing: "Wine Tasting Trip" to China.

Official reception in Changli% the most important wine province in China


So seven wine-loving Swiss want to know exactly: "What does Chinese wine taste like?" And: "Is it really made from grapes?". To say it in advance: Wine is made from grapes here too, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz for the reds, Chardonnay and some Riesling for the whites. And, to say this in advance: they also make good wines; wines that can definitely compete with European wines. But now we are sitting in the business hotel of Changli - probably the most important wine region in China - together with representatives of the government. What an honour! A "Great Wall", Cabernet Sauvignon, 1999 is served with the meal, for a wine lover like me: in homeopathic doses. But before that they serve Gaoliang, the traditional Chinese grain schnapps - 38 per cent - and all my receptors are quickly paralysed. Thank God: it's already the fifth day of our China wine trip. I have already got used to a few things. For example, to the taste of the wines: a strong resemblance to the French, more robust than delicate, not too strong, but clearly structured, in the nose almost always first a slightly lactic tone, yoghurt aroma - in worse cases sauerkraut. But this quickly dissipates. In the good cases, this first impression fades or is drowned out by the massive wood. On the palate, however, many a wine develops extremely favourably: expressive, more or less pure-toned, not flattering, but aromatic, even full of character.

Imposing wine cellar: Lafite-style barrique cellars


It is not easy to determine all this - and much more: the glasses are very small, even at the best wineries there are hardly any tasting glasses to be found, the poured volume is even much smaller than the glasses. This is not enough to sniff a wine precisely, let alone to let it circulate several times in the palate. Two attempts - and it's gone, hardly worth spitting. It is not stinginess that is the driving force behind this moderate enjoyment of wine. It is simply a different tradition in dealing with wine.

Languedoc in China

I had to experience this on my first evening. I ordered a glass of wine in the hotel bar - after almost homely feelings overwhelmed me on the presentation table in the hotel lobby: There was a bottle of red wine, Château "Lafleur - Gloria" from the Languedoc. But I was not interested in such "treasures": no, I tried to drink the first Chinese red wine. After major communication difficulties, a whiskey glass landed on the table in front of me - after a long time - garnished with barely two fingerbreadths of red wine. I stared at the glass and was stunned, but even more speechless. My two companions - Swiss wine freaks like me - took pity on me and started an intervention: more wine! After a lengthy, friendly, charming back and forth, it finally became three-finger widths. When this still wasn't enough for me, they started conferring, debating and phoning behind the bar. Finally, a young waiter came from the restaurant on the first floor, who was just as clueless. But they managed to end up with a wine glass full of Chinese wine in front of me. The wine was good, the evening saved. I didn't even try for a second glass.

I am gradually realising that many things are different in China - by no means worse - but just different: Chinese. Thank God this is already part of my experience at the reception of Qi Youchang, the director of the "Wine Bureau Of Changli County" and the representative of the authorities of Changli (even in the person of the vice mayor). In this delicate situation - after spilling a cup of tea from excitement beforehand - I am asked for the first time about my sensory impression. I say something like: "fresh, mineral and plum flavours followed by a nice finish". Is it my poor English pronunciation or the different vocabulary: In any case, my carefully balanced first impression is acknowledged with a polite smile, then we immediately move on to figures and success stories of an up-and-coming, proud wine region. Since 1996, only rapidly increasing production.

Proud wine statistics


On the tour through the winery we learn more: the increase in the largest state-owned wine enterprise has been exponentially rising: 4'983 - 5'993 - 7'261 - 8'352 in 2000. But then even: 15'314 - 19'630 - 25'127 - 33'014 - 35'383 - 45'644 last year. But, what are these numbers? Are they: Tons, hectolitres, hectares or even a Chinese measure unknown to me? The extremely charming hostess, with her speech-breaking English, insists on tonnes. So I calculate in my head: specific weight of wine times litres divided by bottle size gives: 61 million bottles per year. It almost makes me dizzy. I can only calm down at the thought that China has about 1.3 billion inhabitants, each of whom now drinks an average of only 0.3 litres of wine per year. How much more wine will it take if soon it will be 0.4 litres or even half a litre?

A final attempt at calculation: if it will one day be a whole litre, then - converted to this one production site - it will quickly need 200 million bottles per year. These are almost tantalising figures. The hostess from the winery urges us on - fortunately - into the cellar. Long corridors, representative niches with information and self-portrayal, past the bust of Mao carved out of white stone, empty barriques with signatures, into the magnificent cellar where thousands of barriques are stored. Round, a copy of the famous Lafite cellar in Bordeaux, only several times bigger. All my questions: first occupancy, assemblage, fining, origin of the oak, storage time and, and, and... are not answered. Not because they don't want to give any information, but simply because they can't; because the overtaxed but always smiling attendant doesn't know or doesn't understand the question.

On to the happy tasting


What's up? We have come to China to taste. I can read the facts and figures about Chinese wine later. We finally end up in a tasting room. A bit gloomy, but - like everything - representative. Dark, curved wooden tables, small representative glasses and a few sips of red Cabernet, vintage 1994. I resist calculating: can this be? Later I discover the modest little word "since" on the label, like when a classified château in Bordeaux says: since 1855.

When we wanted to try another bottle, another wine or another vintage, we were referred to the shop: there were other wines there, here only this 1994. We then bought a bottle in the shop, the best one, at a price of around 40 euros, which is quite high (for China).

If all this sounds a bit negative, then this is only one side of my Chinese experience. There are other, good, astonishing ones. I will tell you about them later, when we have tasted (almost) the whole range of Chinese wines and the exotic wine trip has brought us even more experiences. For now, everything still seems very Chinese to me.


Sincerely
Yours/Yours
Peter (Züllig)

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