A lot has been written recently about The Decanter World Wine Award for a Red Bordeaux Varietal over £10 going to a wine from China, namely the He Lan Qing Xue Winery 2009 Jiabeilan Cabernet. Much has been said about whether a wine from China could wine such a prestigious award. I like what wine blogger Wojciech Bońkowski had to say:
“The attitude of many commentators is really surprising. While China admittedly has not shone with the quality of its wines in the past, it’s only natural it would break through at some moment, and I’m amazed there is so much resistance to that inevitable fact. Did you know China is now the world’s fifth largest producer of wine? It makes more bottles than Argentina, Chile, Australia, Germany or Portugal. Yet no one would make a story of a German wine winning a Trophy.”
I agree and have no doubt that the quality of Chinese wine will continue to improve. My congratulations to the He Lan Qing Xue Winery.