Get Free Wine Updates – Sign up Now!
Don’t Miss Out on the Latest Wine News – Receive a Daily Digest Email Every Morning.
Contrary to popular belief, wine writers like myself don’t receive Bordeaux first growths on a regular basis. So, when I received a box of wine in early July and found a bottle of Château Lafite 2019 inside, it was quite a special occasion. What made it even more interesting was the fact that it wasn’t sent from Bordeaux, but from a Chinese wine producer.
Lenz Moser, an Austrian wine producer, has a joint venture with Changyu, the largest Chinese wine company, in the province of Ningxia. He invited me to join him for a tasting of his top Chinese wines, comparing them to the best Cabernets from around the world. He prepared a selection of four smart red bordeaux wines – Lafite, Figeac 2018, Léoville Las Cases 2017, and Pontet-Canet 2017 – as well as Napa Valley’s renowned Opus One 2019. These wines were to be compared with the first two vintages, 2016 and 2019, of his top Chinese wine made with Changyu Moser, and two expensive Chinese Cabernets, Long Dai and Ao Yun, made respectively by Ch Lafite and LVMH. The average retail prices per bottle, sourced from Wine-searcher.com, are included in the box. Upon researching these prices, I found them to be quite remarkable, especially for the Chinese wines which lack a well-established reputation. It’s also interesting to note that top Napa Valley Cabernets now surpass the prices of many famous Bordeaux wines. It’s no wonder Bordeaux merchants are eager to add them to their portfolios.
I assume Moser didn’t have to pay for the wines himself, and it’s possible that Changyu covered the cost of this two-person tasting (although I did suggest inviting other tasters). Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but calculate the total cost, excluding the bottles of Changyu Moser wine, “Purple Air Comes from the East” (PACE for short, presumably a name that resonates more in China). The total comes to £2,264, with the two Lafite-owned wines accounting for more than half of the price. I anticipate that readers may be shocked by the perceived waste of opening these bottles for only two tasters.
Once we agreed on a date for this comparative tasting, which took place at my home in London, I was primarily interested in the quality of the wines rather than their price. I strongly suggested serving the wines blind. Moser poured them into identical glasses numbered one to nine. Only he knew the order in which they were served, although I knew which wines were in the lineup.
It became clear that one wine stood above the rest – Ch Lafite 2019, the sole Bordeaux first growth in the lineup (and also the most expensive wine by far). On the other hand, one wine was undeniably disappointing, tasting rather crude and overdone – Moser’s PACE 2019, the second vintage of this ambitious Chinese Cabernet with a high 15% alcohol content. However, the first vintage, PACE 2016, was excellent. In fact, I initially mistook it for Figeac, one of my favorite red bordeaux wines, until I tasted the real Figeac later on. Moser, who had to create the 2019 blend based on wine samples sent to Austria due to the pandemic, firmly believes it will eventually rival the 2016 vintage. I’m not as convinced.
I mistakenly confused Ao Yun with Long Dai, but these are not wines I drink on a regular basis. The main takeaway for me was that, apart from PACE 2016, these Chinese wines were less subtle compared to the others in the lineup, despite being among the best produced in the country thus far. It’s important to remember that they are made from relatively young vines, in a terroir that is new to grapevines, and by winemakers without extensive experience. One interesting detail Moser mentioned about his Ningxia wines is that the Cabernet grapes are incredibly small due to the scarcity of water, resulting in rich flavors from the skins. The vines grow in desert-like conditions, being drip-irrigated from the Yellow River. Another challenge in Ningxia (though not in the regions producing Ao Yun and Long Dai) is the extremely cold winters, requiring the vines to be carefully buried every autumn to protect them from freezing. However, a major advantage of Ningxia, and the reason why so much wine is made there, is the provincial government’s support for wine production as a means to revitalize the previously impoverished land. Moser is now involved in joint wine ventures around the world. After the tasting, he explained to me via email, “I had to reinvent myself again during Covid as my China business was dead for two years.” As a result, he now produces Grüner Veltliners with Markus Huber in Austria, dry “Mad Moser” Furmints with a wine producer in the Hungarian town of Mad, and most recently, an intriguing white wine made from Portugal’s Arinto grape grown near Lisbon in collaboration with winemaker Pedro Ribeiro. Moser and Ribeiro claim that this wine is packaged in “the lightest bottle in the premium field globally, weighing only 360g.”
His Austrian wines are branded as New Chapter, which is fitting considering his family’s history in the wine industry. Lenz Moser was the name of the Austrian wine company owned by his parents, which they sold in 1987. It is also the name of a vine-training system invented by his grandfather, a fact that wine students are familiar with. The current Lenz Moser left the family business in 1997 to work for the late Robert Mondavi in California, whom he considers the catalyst for his entry into the global fine wine industry.
It’s interesting to contemplate what Mondavi, California’s most renowned wine producer and an avid globetrotter, would have thought of the Chinese wine market. This market experienced rapid growth in the first decade of the 21st century but has faced challenges recently, including corruption and subsequent measures taken to combat it (such as the crackdown on gifting expensive wines), a trade war with Australia (a significant source of imported wine), and the impact of an exceptionally strict lockdown. It may take some time for China to become a major player in the global wine export market.
Jancis Robinson’s Tasting Notes:
China vs. The Wine World
Average Retail Prices (in the order they were served blind):
1. Ao Yun 2016 Yunnan – 14.5% ABV – £231
2. Léoville Las Cases 2017 St-Julien – 13% ABV – £185
3. Purple Air Comes from the East 2016 Ningxia – 14% ABV – £127
4. Pontet-Canet 2017 Pauillac – 13% ABV – £103
5. Lafite-Rothschild 2019 Pauillac – 13% ABV – £739
6. Figeac 2018 St-Émilion – 14.5% ABV – £255
7. Purple Air Comes from the East 2019 Ningxia – 15% ABV – £153
8. Opus One 2019 Napa Valley – 13.5% ABV – £320
9. Long Dai 2019 Shandong – 14.5% ABV – £431
For detailed tasting notes, scores, and suggested drink dates, please visit Purple Pages on JancisRobinson.com. For international stockists, refer to Wine-searcher.com.
Follow @FTMag to be the first to learn about our latest stories.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
