Down-to-earth approach adds to the sparkle

Grape Wall Challenge invites casual consumers to be wine judges to have opinions about wines as opposed to the many wine-tasting events where wine educators, and enthusiasts, and writers talk big, but leave common consumers feeling timid to speak up.[Photo by Dong Fangyu/ China Daily]

The setting for the seventh annual wine event the Grape Wall Challenge, in the TRB Bites restaurant in Beijing, overlooking the Forbidden City, could not have been better chosen.

The superb views seemed to say "Anyone can enjoy this", perfectly distilling the spirit of the event, which encourages consumers not only to have their own opinions on wines, but to feel free to air them as well, unlike at many events in which the jargon-filled talk of wine educators, enthusiasts and writers leaves all but a few intimidated and silent.

Since 2009 organizers of the Grape Wall Challenge have invited Chinese who are casual wine drinkers, for example those who may imbibe once or twice a month and who have never taken professional wine classes, to be the judges. It tends toward wines that are inexpensive and easy to find, sold not just in wine shops but supermarkets too.

This year the theme for the event, held on Dec 13, was budget sparkling wine. Consumer-judges blind tasted wines priced at about 100 yuan ($15) from Australia, France, Germany, Italy and South Africa. The classing system could not have been more down to earth either, the classifications given being: "love it", "like it", "dislike it" or "hate it".

"What I liked the best is how all of the judges had very strong opinions about the wines," says the founder of the event, Jim Boyce, who runs a popular wine blog called Grape Wall of China.

"We often hear that wine is intimidating, but when given a chance, consumers have no problem tasting and explaining why they like this or that bottle. It is as much about building confidence as it is about finding good wines.

"We focus on those retailing for 100 yuan or less, a category that gets precious little attention despite being a major portion of the market. All wines we used are available in at least half a dozen cities in China or easily accessible via online shopping."

Professor Ma Huiqin, of China Agricultural University in Beijing, a leading wine expert in China, led a discussion with the judges after the tasting.

"The judges were happy to see so many sparkling wines," she says. "In China, wine usually means dry red wines, something very serious with big tannins. The judges liked the sweeter wines in general. They are consumers, and not all experienced in wine, but the ones they liked are nevertheless balanced, beyond simple sweetness.

"Even as a wine professional, I found the Pearly Bay rose (from Western Cape in South Africa) to be very nice. It was fruity and lovely, sweet and balanced, with a very attractive body."

This year the event got an extra touch of the hands-on approach.

Unlike in other wine-tastings and challenges where judges sit at tables and samples are poured into glasses again and again, judges this time were asked to try opening the bottles themselves.

"They began to compare the different feelings when uncorking the bottles," Ma says.

"They said things like "This cork is tighter", "That cork feels different", and so on. This is interesting because when I open sparkling wine, I can feel those differences but I never focus on them. We could see opening the wines was a part of the enjoyment."

Boyce says the wines for blind tasting were provided by distributors including Cheers, China Wines & Spirits, East Meets West, French Wine Paradox, Montrose, Summergate and Torres/Everwines.

"What I see during our Grape Wall Challenges is consumers who carefully consider each wine, make up their own minds, and are willing to defend their choices," Boyce says.

The best of the lot: The judges' top 3

1 The top three sparkling wines picks from the consumer-judges, and where to find them:

KWV Pearly Bay Celebration rose. Pearly Bay is distributed by China Wines & Spirits and is priced at 98 yuan at Mali Wine Cellar, and is listed at yhd.com and amazon.cn.

2 Menestrello Lambrusco Rosso from Italy. Menestrello is priced at 68 yuan at Cheers shops in nine cities and at cheers-wines.com.

3 The third-place winner was Sire de Beaupre Demi-Sec from France, which sells for 69 yuan in Carrefour supermarkets. It can also be found at jiuq.com and yhyyh.com.