Beijing Boyce

By Jim Boyce

I joined Marc Curtis of China Wine Tours on March 24 for a visit to Chateau Bolongbao, just outside of Beijing. Curtis will bring his first tour group from the United States to China in October, with the planned itinerary including Beijing, Xian, Shanxi, Xinjiang, and Shanghai. Here are some photos from the visit, led by the winery’s Tang Jie.

A view of Chateau Bolongbao from the gate.

Given that Beijing winters can be quite cold, these vines are buried beneath 35-40 centimeters of soil in the fall and then uncovered in the spring.

A hilltop view of Bolongbao, which we were told produced its first Bordeaux-style wine in 2003.

This facility is being built next door to Bolongbao by a farmers collective and, from what I gathered, will make non-grape fruit wines.

Professor of Agriculture Zou Fulin (second left), with (from left) China Wine Tour’s Judy Zhao and Marc Curtis, and the winery’s Tang Jie. Zou says he knows Italian, French, Australian and American wine styles, and prefers Bordeaux.

Production for 2005, 2006, and 2007 was 110,000, 88,000, and 110,000 bottles respectively, says Zou.

Bolongbao uses oak barrels from France and the United States.

This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (75%), Merlot (20%), and Cabernet Franc (5%). We tried it decanted for 40 minutes. The body was clean, with some cherry and clove aromas, though I found it a bit oak-y.

“There is nothing in the flavor that turns me off,” said Curtis. “I’d be happy to serve it to people.”

The 2005 vintage is available for RMB198. Bolongbao wines are not available via retail shops, but can be ordered via the winery.

I joined six Chinese wine writers on April 26 for lunch with Chateau Latour GM Frederic Engerer. Organized by ASC at the Hyatt’s Made in China restaurant in Beijing, the event saw us try his 1995 and 2001 wines with Chinese dishes, including Beijing duck, and discuss Chateau Latour in particular and the wine industry in general. I asked him three things.

Has he tried any Chinese wine?

He said that regrettably he had not.

What does he think about China’s growing influence on the Bordeaux market?

He said that countries such as China are changing the customer base for Chateau Latour: “It’s going to be a different profile of customers.”

“We are not responsible for the tripling of prices,” he added. “It’s out of our hands. Our goal is to provide the best wine every year.”

What does he think of screw tops and has Latour experimented with them?

He reacted strongly to the issue of screw tops. He called them “artificial” and questioned how well wine will age with their use.

“If you make wine to drink in 18 months, then [screw tops are] wonderful,” he said, but added that corks are better for storage. “It’s not a matter of traditional versus modern. It’s understood that our wines last 50 years.”

He gave no indication that Latour had experimented with screw tops.

“Our goal is to get cork better. With screw tops, it’s a different product. They call it wine, but we don’t,” he said, and cited his displeasure with the screw top lobby.

He pointed at the wine we were drinking: “Do you want this wine touching something artificial?”

When asked about glass closures, he said that Latour used some of these with its 2000 vintage and would give the wine a try in 2010. He added that Latour used glass closures in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s.

As for the food and wine pairing, some of the initial dishes proved too spicy - particularly those from southwest China - so the “heat” was reduced for the remainder, with the Beijing duck being an OK match. On top of talking to a leading Bordeaux personality, trying new food and wine combinations added to the fun.

Note: The wines we tried were Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac, 2001; Chateau Latour Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 2001; and Chateau Latour Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 1995.