Grape Wall of China wine challenge is back

Li Demei (far left), a wine professor from Beijing University of Agriculture, was one of the judges at last year's challenge. Photo by Jim Boyce

By Annie Wei

The Grape Wall of China Challenge, which aims to identify the best imported wines under 100 yuan, is coming back for the second year on June 24 at Maison Boulud restaurant.

The judging process will be similar to last year’s: two groups of Chinese judges – wine experts and average consumers – will blind-taste and rate 60 wines. The wines with the 10 highest scores will win. To maintain fairness and objectivity, no wine manufacturer or distributor will be invited to judge.

Jim Boyce, a wine blogger and co-organizer of the event, said he prefers to invite consumer judges who do not have much knowledge of or experience drinking foreign wine as the challenge’s purpose is to discover what average Chinese consumers like, not what foreigners or industry professionals like.

The event also hopes to promote within the local market the sale of wines from a wider range of grape varieties and nations of origin. 

There is no fee to enter the contest, but distributors are required to provide two bottles of each wine entered, with a maximum of four wine types per distributor. They are also encouraged to provide the contest organizers with a list of stores where the wines are sold. A separate challenge is being organized for wines produced in China.

The event is co-organized by Nicolas Carre, a French wine consultant, and Zhao Fan, a chief representive at Pro-wine. Check out grapewallofchina.com for more information.