Saluting Chinese wines

French wine critics Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve and a panel of judges staged a tasting of 173 Chinese wines in Beijing last month. Thirty-one wines (24 reds, 1 sparkling and 6 whites) were awarded enough points to be ranked in Bettane and Desseauve's 2015-2016 respected wine guide, which will be published for the first time in Chinese.

"What's impressive is the speed of the enlarging of vineyards," Bettane told Beijing wine blogger Jim Boyce after the event. "There are thousands of hectares being added every year. There is a lot of money to build wineries with state-of-the-art equipment. But people seem to forget that the beginning of good wineries is in the vineyard. Quality grapes help make excellent wine.

The duo agreed with critics who say winemakers in China have been too focused on Cabernet-driven, Bordeaux-style blends.

"We saw the same criticism of Napa 30 years ago," Bettane tells Boyce on grapewallofchina.com. "Then California winemakers changed their minds and adapted the best grape varieties to the terroir. I think the same will happen in China."

Desseauve tells Boyce that most of the Chinese wines are not similar to New World styles. "The balance is closer to classic Old World styles, with lower alcohol, good acidity and lots of fresh fruit. That is quite unique when talking about a new wine country."