Lafite winery in China underway

Domaines Barons de Rothschild has begun construction of a winery in Penglai in China’s Shandong province in order to capitalise on the thirst for fine wine in Asia. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, in partnership with CITIC East China Group, the new winery, in the only coastal wine producing area in Asia, is expected to produce 120,000 bottles of wine a year.

After fifteen years of research on grape planting in Asia, Lafite selected the port town of Penglai as the optimum site for its Chinese property. The company has invested £10m in the 1.73 hectare winery, and the accompanying 25 hectare estate. A completion date for the project has yet to be given. Lafite will plant different kinds of grapes in accordance with soil constituents, without the use of chemical fertilisers.

“The world’s top luxury brands are all very interested in the Chinese market, Rothschild is no exception,” said Zhang Lu, a Shanghai-based analyst at Capital Securities Corp. Outside France, Lafite also owns Bodegas Caro in Argentina and Viña Los Vascos in Chile. Penglai has a quality grape growing area of more than 10,000 hectares.

Wine production in the region has doubled to 140,000 tons in 2011 from 2005, while the number of winemakers increased to 70 from 39 in the same period. Chinese wine imports meanwhile, were worth over US$1.27bn last year, after an annual increase of 88%. According to the latest figures from Vinexpo, Asia is on course to become the world’s second biggest market for wine within the next three years.

Chinese consumers will increase the amount of wine they drink by 54% by 2015 as consumption reaches 1.9 to 2 liters per person, the Vinexpo study found. The value of wine purchases may outpace volume in the next four years, helped by high-end consumption in China, which is now the fifth largest wine market by volume.

China develops thirst for white

China is developing a growing thirst for white wine, according to Vinexpo. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, red wine still makes up the vast majority of total wine consumption in China (91%), but white wine drinking rose by 19% last year, with 70% further growth expected by 2015.

Last week, the global wine and spirits exhibition group spelt out its views in Shanghai of the fast-developing Chinese wine market. Dominique Heriard Dubreuil, chairman of both Vinexpo and Rémy Cointreau, said China’s developing taste for white wine presents an educational challenge to vintners worldwide.

“In general, Chinese people don’t like to drink something cold, but white wine is not at its best when warm,” she said. According to Vinexpo, last year China overtook Britain as the fifth largest wine market by volume, behind the US, Italy, France and Germany. Consumption of wine on the mainland and Hong Kong rose by 21.5%.

Within three years, greater China will spend more money on still wines than the UK, and become the world’s second biggest wine consumer by value, after the US. Vinexpo expects China to consume over a billion more bottles annually between now and 2015 – a further 54% increase.

China is also on track to become the world’s biggest Cognac market by 2016, Vinexpo says, forecasting 47% growth between 2011-2015. China is already Cognac’s second largest market, after France. But recently Chinese buyers have complained of having trouble finding the extra-premium spirits they prefer. “In China, people want very old Cognacs, but global inventories of are not extensive,” said Heriard Dubreuil.

Sadoya wine dinner at Saki Farringdon

Japanese wine is having something of a moment. Last week a series of events were held in London to showcase Japan's winemaking prowess to the city's wine elite, including a lunch attended by a who's who of the wine world: Michael Broadbent, Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson to name but three.

The focus was on Japan's flagship white grape, Koshu. Helping to build a buzz around Japan's great white hope, Jancis Robinson MW was enlisted to host a Koshu seminar at the Koshu of Japan trade tasting, in which she described the grape, which is being marketed as an alternative to saké for matching with Japanese food, as 'quietly gallant'. Made in the Yamanashi Prefecture, the Japanese government has put its support behind a campaign to promote Koshu in the UK and other European export markets, targeting Japanese restaurants.

My encounter with Koshu came at Saki restaurant in Farringdon, at a dinner hosted by Hirohisa Imai, owner of Sadoya, one of Japan's leading producers. Light bodied and almost transparent, the tank sample of 2010 Sadoya Zenkouji Kitahara Koshu had delicate, yuzu citrus flavours, along with hints of lychee and lime blossom. Jancis accurately describes its purity as 'zen-like'.

Sat beside Imai at the dinner was long-term friend and former owner of Château Cos d'Estournel Bruno Prats. I wondered whether Prats harboured dreams of a Japanese wine project, to add to his Portuguese, Chilean, South African and Spanish ventures, but he assured me he has no plans to invest in Japan, and that his final wine project, an old vine Monastrell from Alicante called 'Alfinal', or 'the end' in Spanish, will launch at Vinexpo in Bordeaux this June.

Leaving Prats and Imai to get back to their Koshu, I took my place at a black cubed table with a white, gravel-filled centre sprouting four phallic candles, like erotic stalagmites – the most curious centrepiece I've ever encountered in a restaurant. Not only the only blonde, but the only Brit, I felt like I'd stepped inside a scene from Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation.

The seven course dinner paired a different Sadoya wine with each dish. Founded in 1917, Sadoya was appointed purveyor to the Japanese Imperial Household in 1940 – a title it retains to this day. The feast commenced with a trio of nibbles inspired by Japanese New Year celebrations: tiny fish representing fertility, a golden egg yolk set atop an egg white in a coconut ice-like cube for prosperity, and a white radish and red(ish) carrot – Japan's lucky colours.

The accompanying Sadoya Cabernet Sauvignon sparkling rosé was an attractive onion skin pink, and had persistent petillance and a feminine nose of summer fruits. A simple sashimi selection followed, which matched incredibly well with the crisp, citrusy Koshu. We then moved on to scallop, king prawn and Lotus root kakiage (tempura) that looked like a tumor but tasted divine. Crunchy and moorish, it's the Japanese equivalent of beer battered cod. The matching 2004 dry Semillon was decidedly dull, and almost ghostly in its lack of character.

Sat to my left was a Japanese lady who had emigrated to England 30 years prior and now worked at the Japanese Embassy in London. After kindly inviting me to a forthcoming saké tasting, she told me of her predilection for English comedy and costume drama, name checking Only Fools and Horses and Downton Abbey as her particular favourites. Curiouser and curiouser. A fascinating dish followed: braised pork belly in a potato sauce, served in a yellow flower-shaped bowl and garnished with two bright green beans. Soft, comforting and tremendously tender, it was the best pork I've ever tasted.

We were then presented with a duo of exciting wines: Sadoya Château Brillant Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 and Château Brillant Cabernet/Merlot 1962. The '92 was remarkably youthful for its 19 years, and still incredibly fruit forward, with a nose of black cherries, and red currants. The palate was smooth and rounded, showing traces of aged Bordeaux. The '62 also seemed young for its years, and reassuringly full of life. Savoury and serious, it had aromas of pencil shavings, cedar wood, cigar box and tobacco smoke, with a spicy, sour cherry finish.

The '62 was matched with black cod with truffle miso - a sublime dish that had me reaching for superlatives, so rapturous was its divine, hedonistic flavour. Intense, intoxicating, indulgent, I almost genuflected in front of the plate in reverence to it. The final wine of the night was a curio: Sadoya Zenkouji Kitahara Sweet Semillon 2008, paired with green tea tiramisu, that sang of apricot and orange peel. In the UK's highly competitive wine retail arena, the 'quietly gallant' Koshu is not going to be an easy sell, but it's exciting to see the white grape has entered the world wine arena. And with Sadoya producing some stunning reds, Japan's wine future looks to be in the pink.