Grapes worth their weight in gold

A wine tasting event in the cellar of Dry Creek Vineyard in Sonoma county. [Photo by Dong Fangyu/China Daily]

Christopher Beros, director of the China office of the California Wine Institute, says one big misunderstanding among Chinese is that Napa wines represent the sum total of California's wine production. In fact, as prestigious as Napa wines are, they are a mere drop in the bucket, accounting for just 4 percent of the state's total production.

Beros advises Chinese against locking themselves into one area in their wine adventures in the state.

"Wine tasting in California is more about exploring, trying many different things with totally different environments."

More than 100 wine regions officially recognized as American Viticultural Areas are spread over 1,000 kilometers from northern to southern California, with vineyards on hillsides, in valleys, near the coast, rivers and lakes, and wineries of many different styles, and diverse landscapes and climates.

However, you do not have to travel far for a change of scenery, one prime example of that being Sonoma Valley, just 20 minutes' drive from Napa, a wine region with very different characteristics.

Wang Yu, 31, who works in an investment bank in Beijing, says he went to Sonoma in July and found it cheaper than its more famous neighbor.

"The thing about Sonoma is that there I felt I had a much wider choice of varietals to taste than in Napa.

"The other thing is that it has a more rustic feel than Napa, where things are more boutique, commercial, and sophisticated. But they are both great. Visiting a vineyard is in itself a very romantic and a wonderful thing."

Wang is passionate about food and wine and says learning about wine has become after-hours entertainment in which he can make new friends.

If it was new friends that the US government was aiming to make 12 months ago when it introduced 10-year multiple entry visas for Chinese, it looks to have succeeded magnificently, and that will no doubt mean the numbers heading for the wineries of California will continue to increase over the coming months and years.

"Nearly everyone in my office has applied or is applying for a US tourist visa," Wang says.

Michael Parr, vice president for international sales of Wente Family Estates, about 70 kilometers east of San Francisco, says its tasting room staff have recently undergone special "Chinese cultural training to better understand and serve Chinese visitors".

Wente Vineyards, nestled in Livermore Valley, claims to be the oldest continuously family-operated vineyards in the US, going back to 1883, when a German immigrant, C. H. Wente, sailed to US in pursuit of a better life.