Over 100 wines including LVMH’s Ao Yun and Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite)’s Long Dai are reviewed in RPWA’s first comprehensive report on Chinese wines

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach- 17 December 2020 - In 20 years' time, is it possible that the Grand Crus onyour table will comprise Ao Yun, Long Dai, Grace, Puchang and Silver Heightswineries? China's young wine industry is one to watch in the coming years as itcontinues to push boundaries, attract talent from all over the world and adaptto challenges in its path. Meanwhile, China remains an important wine marketeven as its wines are entering the international market. For those looking tounderstand Chinese wines in the coming decades, there is now a comprehensiveresource to refer to.

With two distinctive river banks at varyingaltitudes, Ao Yun's vineyards enjoy varied soil types, sun exposure andmicroclimates

True to its coremission of publishing regionally focused reports since it was founded in 1978,Robert Parker Wine Advocate has released its long-awaited comprehensive ChinaWine Report 2020, which joins the growing international coverage of wine regionsreported by the review team.

The RobertParker Wine Advocate report format includes an in-depth introduction andvintage reports that are the reviewer's expert opinions on the vintage, basedpredominately on their tastings and taking into consideration their regionalvisits and interviews with winemakers / viticulturalists. The China Report 2020is helmed by China reviewer Edward Ragg, Master of Wine (MW), who has beenactively tasting Chinese wines since moving to Beijing in 2007 with his wifeFongyee Walker MW.

China winetrends to look out for

• Morediversity in grape varieties, such as Marselan, Aglianico, Saperavi, Alibernet
• The mostpromising stars of the past few vintages
• Adventurousand new wine styles, such as organic, biodynamic and natural wines

Edward Ragg'sintroduction takes the opportunity to highlight the increasing variety of winegrapes introduced to China, even as Cabernet Sauvignon remains the top plantedgrape for wine production. He explains, "Grace Vineyard (Shanxi) was among thefirst to go beyond the Bordelais approach, in recent years producing compellingtraditional method sparkling as well as wines from alternative varietiesincluding Aglianico and Marselan. Marselan is undoubtedly playing anincreased role across China as the fungally-resistant crossing of Cabernet Sauvignonand Grenache that adds generous colour to Chinese reds and some much-needed fruitiness.Chateau Nine Peaks in Shandong's Qingdao is, similarly, experimenting more withPetit Verdot and Alibernet: a crossing of Alicante Bouschet and CabernetSauvignon which, similar to Marselan, adds fruit and colour to blends."

For those whowant to know which quality names to collect, Ragg names a few: "From Ao Yun andLong Dai to long-term veterans of the smaller family operations such as Grace,Silver Heights and Puchang, Chinese fine wine will hopefully continue to be definedby the drive for quality in the vineyard and cellar these producersdemonstrate." Ragg has included vintage tasting notes for the debut 2017 and2018 releases of Long Dai, and its second wine Hu Yue.

He is alsoexcited that the thirst for invention has extended to natural wines produced bytiny producer Ian Dai in Ningxia; and sparkling and orange wines at SilverHeights, which under winemaker Emma Gao is working on biodynamic wine methods.  

Raggconcludes, "Whilst there are some inevitable exclusions to this first report,I've tried to cover the country's very best wines and those most likely to whetthe appetites of Robert Parker Wine Advocate subscribers. That said, I lookforward to covering an even wider range of Chinese fine wines in future.Chinese wine is, indeed, just coming of age."

The top 10scoring wines from Robert Parker Wine Advocate's China Wine Report 2020 are:

• 2014 Canaan WineryReserve Merlot, Huailai, Hebei (RP 94 points)
  2014 年迦南酒庄珍藏梅洛，河北怀来 
• 2014 Domaine FrancoChinois Petit Manseng, Huailai, Hebei (RP 93 points)
  2014年中法庄园小忙森，河北怀来 
• 2015 Ao Yun, Di Qing,Yunnan (RP 94 points)
  2015年敖云，云南迪庆州 
• 2018 Domaine de LongDai, Penglai, Shandong (RP 93 points)
  2018年珑岱，山东蓬莱 
• 2018 Chateau NinePeaks Qi Chardonnay, Qingdao, Shandong (RP 94 points)
  2018年九顶庄园"气"霞多丽，山东青岛 
• 2015 Jade Vineyard MessengerReserve, Helan Shan, Ningxia (RP 94 points)
  2015年嘉地信使珍藏，宁夏贺兰山 
• 2017 SilverHeights Emma's Reserve, Helan Shan, Ningxia (RP 94 points)
  2017年银色高地爱玛私家收藏，宁夏贺兰山 
• 2017 XigeEstate First Label, Ningxia (RP 94 points)
  2017年西鸽酒庄正牌，宁夏 
• 2018 Grace Vineyard Interval (Syrah/CabernetSauvignon), Ningxia (RP 93 points)
  2018年怡园酒庄留白（西拉/赤霞珠），宁夏 
• 2014 Puchang Vineyard Reserve Saperavi,Turpan (RP 94 points)
  2014年蒲昌酒庄珍藏晚红蜜，吐鲁番 

The full report is available on https://bit.ly/RPWAChinaReport2020.

About Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Robert Parker Wine Advocate is the world's premierindependent wine buyer's guide and website with more than 450,000 tastingnotes, scores and reviews from professional critics around-the-world. Forover 40 years, Robert Parker Wine Advocate (a part of the MICHELIN Group ofcompanies) has been the global leader and independent consumer's guide to finewine with its 100-point rating system and in-depth coverage of major wineregions.

For more information, visit www.RobertParker.com.