Curiouser and curiouser!
Wine Travel Beyond the Socials
As promised, I’m going to cover the last month’s trips from a macro-perspective one-by-one and in order, primarily for my own organization, but also because there is a substantial amount of information to glean from each. This week, I’m going to take you behind the curtains of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles held in Yinchuan, China. While primarily a three-day global wine competition, the experience is also layered with cultural adventures, local delicacies, and wine education. For me, this was an experience of a lifetime, taking me out of my comfort zone and exposing me to a world (and wines) beyond Western cultures.
But before I delve into this summer’s Chinese adventures, here are a few of the wines that although tasted in China, come to us from around the globe. At this year’s competition, the wines that graced my table hailed from France, Switzerland, Portugal, China, Spain, Germany, Italy, and South Africa. Of these, Douro Valley, Portugal; Piemonte, Italy; Castilla-la-Mancha, Spain; and Germany, collectively and on average, received my highest ratings. And while these wines may not yet be available (if at all) in the States, to give you an idea of regions, producers, and price points (where available), here are a few of the wines I personally found to be standouts:
In My Glass
$13 (for vintage 2023)
$22 USD in Switzerland
2016 Vallegre Touriga Nacional
$20 USD in Spain/Portugal
2016 Mingxa Zhengyao Dry Red Wine
2022 Senorio de los Llano Blanco Robles
2020 La Catedral Reserva Rioja
2022 Brejinho da Costa Alicante Bouschet
$16 USD
In the News
Now, if you’re curious about the collective results, the winners of the 2025 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) Red & White Session were recently announced - Silver, Gold, & Grand Gold. You can find the full list of the 2025 results here.
In the Spotlight
Wine Region of the Week
Situated in inland north-western China at the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains, Ningxia sits between the 37th and 39th parallels, 375 miles northwest of Beijing, with a population of 7.2 million people. The region encompasses Shizuishan City, Yinchuan City, Qingtongxia City, and Honsipu. The Helan Mountains, which span 124 miles separate the autonomous regions of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. Shielded by the mountains to the west and bordered by the Yellow River to the east, Ningxia is home to one third of China’s vineyards with 96,000 acres of once barren desert planted lushly and successfully to vine. The region lies between 3,600 to 4,800 feet in elevation with calcareous, gravelly, and sandy soils. The climate is continental with around 3,000 hours of sunshine and only about 11 inches of rainfall annually. The hot summers are somewhat moderated by the cool northerly wind that flows through the Yinba road, a natural gap in the Helan Mountains. However, the arid conditions necessitate the use of the Yellow River for irrigating the region’s vineyards.
Grapes planted here include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Marselan, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Viognier, among many other vinifera, hybrid, and indigineous varieties. There are currently 228 wineries producing around 138 million bottles of wine with a collective goal of becoming the “World Capital of Wine.” In fact, China’s goal is to ensure that by 2035, the Ningxia Helan Mountain's wine industry will cover 247,000 acres of vines and have an annual output of 600 million bottles of wine with a comprehensive output value of 200 billion yuan, or roughly 28 billion in USD.
Interestingly, in 2013, Ningxia became the first wine region in China to introduce a classification system for its wineries, similar to the system developed in Bordeaux in 1855. I will cover this in greater detail soon.
Winery of the Week
HeLan Qingxue Vineyard is an award-winning winery in the eastern foothills of Helan Mountain in Yinchuan, China. Founded in 2005 by Rong Jian, a former deputy director of agriculture in Ningxia and chairman of the Ningxia Grape Industry Association, and Wang Fengyu, a former plant employee at Xixiawang Winery, the 57-acre vineyard and winery sit at 3,700 feet above sea level. HeLan Qingxue was one of the region’s first boutique wineries with vineyards planted to Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Marselan, and Malbec among other varieties. The two wine industry veterans were joined by the young, female winemaker, Zhang Jing, who they sent to Australia for a winemaking degree. Zhang Jing has since overseen the last 20 vintages, producing 60,000 bottles of wines per year. The team of three at Helan Qingxue Vineyard are dedicated to respecting the land and soil in which the grapes are grown and to producing wines with a sense of distinction and place by adhering to the concept of “better, slower, longer.” They are best known for their Jia Bei Lan series of wines crafted in Bordeaux-style, of which the 2009 Grand Reserve won an international trophy at the 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards, the highest honor in the competition and a first for Ningxia.
After tasting a diverse range of wines (including a Pinot Noir) at the winery, I can attest that these are among the best Chinese wines I have tasted. They have finesse, character, and notably, soul. They don’t feel as though they are manufactured, or trying to achieve a specific typicity; rather, they taste authentic, of place, and dare I say, of a skilled winemaker’s stewarding hands.
My recommendations: The Jia Bei Lan Reserve Red 2019 and the Jia Bei Lan Grand Reserve 2016
In the Room Where It Happened
Last month, I arrived to Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, where I was honored to serve, for a second time, as a judge at the 32nd annual Red & White Session for the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB).
The Concours Mondial is an international wine competition, founded in 1994 by the publisher of the Belgian publication Revue Belge des Vins, Louis Havaux (who celebrated his 90th birthday while in Yinchuan). As a judge representing the U.S. coalition for the 2025 session, I was one of 375 certified global wine experts/tasters blindly assessing among 7,165 wines from 45 countries worldwide. (Yes, it’s a lot of wine!)
The CMB session takes place over three consecutive days of blind tasting. Five judges are seated at each numbered table, and in most cases represent five different countries. A table captain is pre-selected by the Concours Mondial and seated at the head of the table. It is the captain’s job to assist new judges, ensure the wines are in correct order, not faulty, that the review process keeps pace, request second bottles if necessary, and to submit the table’s collective scores.
Each table is responsible for assessing between 35-40 wines per day in a roughly three hour time span - for context, we spend about 5 minutes or less per wine and typically take one bathroom/coffee break per morning. The wines are poured in flights beginning with the whites. The variety and region are unknown. The only information presented is the vintage and level of sweetness if necessary. The professional assessment, completed on a touch-screen device, includes a numeric scale for sight, smell, taste, and overall quality with multiple sub-categories within each for intensity, condition, quality, and persistence. For reference, the scale adds up to 100 points, with most wines falling somewhere between 75-100. Additionally, each judge is asked to record professional tasting notes via keyboard prior to submitting the results for review by the table captain who then submits the results before the panel moves onto the next wine.
At the conclusion of each day, the scores and tasting notes are printed for each individual taster along with the wine reveal. It’s both fun and interesting to see if you guessed the regions/wines correctly, there are often many surprises. The sheets also indicate how you fared with the repeat wine, of which there is typically one per day. This system is part of ensuring the accuracy and consistency of the results - and can be quite humbling! The next stage of the process is where technology takes over. The scores are analyzed, assessed, and tabulated for not only the awarding of the coveted medals, but also to create individual tasting wheels for each wine, which are then shared with the producer to assist with their marketing efforts.
As a wine consumer, writer, educator, and former cellar production assistant, judging wines is something I approach with not only technical expertise, but also with both modesty and respect. I know the value of the results to each brand, and I know what goes into making wine from not only the technical side, but the personal side. Every bottle of wine is the hard work and passion many individuals over the course of months and years. It’s meaningful. And my approach to assessment is as well.
Now, I won’t ever tell you that competition results, medals, points and scores should be the sole reason you make a wine selection, although it can be a helpful starting point; but what I will say, is that in my opinion, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles competition is one of the most fastidious in the world with an unmatched level of professionalism, integrity, and verifiable accuracy, benefitting both the producer and the consumer. And anything that promotes this incredible beverage around the world and introduces us to new varieties, regions, wines, and stories, is of immeasurable valuable in my book.
In Depth
Throughout my exploration of Chinese wines, I came across a new-to-me red wine derived from the grape Marselan. Marselan is a recent crossing of Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon, bred in France in 1961. The goal was to create a high-yielding variety, but while it was naturally resistant to mildew and botrytis, it produced small berries and was largely shelved until the 1990s when the focus of wine production began turning from quantity to quality. It was added to the French registry of grapes in 1990 and made its first appearance in an appellation wine in 2011. It’s permitted for use in Côtes du Rhône and Bordeaux wines, and can be found in other French IGP blends, particularly in the Languedoc. It can also be found in Spain and Uruguay, but it has become particularly well-rooted and successfully produced in China. In fact, Marselan is well-positioned to become the flagship grape for China with a rapidly growing number of plantings. The region is currently planted to approximately 3,500 acres of Marselan across China with 745 acres of that in Ningxia.
Marselan is a late-ripening red grape variety. It is moderately vigorous and grows large shoots with small berried clusters. It thrives in hot, sunny regions where it produces wines with deep color, and intense, concentrated aromas and flavors of violets, cherries, cassis, and brambly red fruits. It typically presents medium to pronounced, supple tannins with moderate levels of acidity, and has often proved well-suited to aging.
In the Moment
As part of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles three-day wine judging sessions, excursions in and around the host city are an integral part of the experience. While the wines included in the competition represent countries from around the world, the host country has the opportunity to share its local wines and foods throughout the week and experiencing the local culture is a key component to understanding local wines. It is the human side of terroir.
On our third night in Yinchuan, we visited and dined at the family-friendly “Manpu Town” of Helan Mountains in the Xixia district. If I had to make a comparison, it’s like a cross between Medieval Times and a Disney theme park. Manpu Town is an entertainment and tourist destination steeped in history, theater, local delicacies and beverages (wine of course among them), leisure and amusement activities. Multiple immersive theatrical performances are held throughout the evening, including indoor and outdoor shows narrating wartime history, pastoral agricultural life, and local folk scenes. The “town” also boasts an indoor water park, multiple outdoor hot springs, a movie theater, fitness facilities, chess tournaments, art galleries, a children’s museum, and a hotel. In other words, it’s an all-inclusive experience for locals and visitors to experience China’s growing wine region in diverse ways.
Manpu Town was a colorful, full-sensory, immersion into the Helan Mountain culture that both dazzled and satiated. And as interest and travel to this new wine region increase, it’s a way to better understand the old histories inextricably woven into the new wines.
In the Know
The journey to Yinchuan, China, my first to Asia, required some planning, but as a seasoned traveler, the hurdles were manageable and not of great consequence. The pre-trip prep required securing a business visa for travel and research into how to communicate on US apps/phones from a country in which they are banned. The visa process was relatively easy. In my case, I used a visa service to coordinate the required documents, ensure everything was in order and correctly completed, and to process my paperwork. It’s not an inexpensive process, but the alternative was to travel to and stay in San Francisco while my paperwork was processed through the consulate. Admittedly, I was not keen about mailing my passport to the visa service, but I will say they handled everything professionally, efficiently, and with detailed tracking information, and I do highly recommend them should you ever need to secure a visa.
As for communications, I used a VPN service which I purchased for $12.99 for the month. The VPN service is installed as an app on the phone prior to departure from home, then once in use, it reroutes the phone’s signal to a server in a selected location. In my case, I chose a server in the US which enabled me to access all of my apps (Instagram, WhatsApp, gmail, etc) from both my phone and computer. The primary service I used was ExpressVPN. I also downloaded a second VPN service, SurfShark, for a one-month period as a back-up should the other stop working. Fortunately, it was not necessary, but I don’t regret spending the extra $18 for peace of mind. I did also download WeChat, a Chinese messaging app for use locally, as well as Alipay, which enabled me to make purchases via my phone.
The travel was long. My personal journey took me from Portland, Oregon to Dallas, Texas - where I connected with a few CMB alums - and from Dallas to Shanghai, China on a 16-hour trans-Pacific flight. The airport was slightly challenging to navigate despite the signs in English, but we successfully claimed our luggage, got through customs (at which I was happy to have all of my original documents in addition to my visa, as I was questioned about the purpose of my visit), and found the transfer bus to the next terminal. Unfortunately, due to a delay in Dallas, we missed our connecting flight to Yinchuan and had to stay a night at the airport in Shanghai (the Holiday Inn was quite nice - and extremely high-tech with housekeeping robots, automated shades, and heated bathroom floors/toilet seats), but it was an unexpected bonus to get a few hours of sleep in a hotel bed vs. boarding the next flight, and we ended up not missing too much of the CMB event with our early flight the next morning.
As a regular traveler, I prepare for delays, missing luggage, and inconveniences. It’s not a perfect system and if you go in with a flexible mindset (and a smile), it does often work out - not always as intended, but sometimes even better. And for a few final travel tips - do not drink the water in China and have a good translation app. While English can be found, it is harder to come by than when traveling in Europe, especially when outside of the major international cities. I would recommend learning a few helpful basic phrases - salutations, and Ps and Qs - and again, approaching things with kindness and patience, as well as with an open and curious mind. I would also highly recommend a visit to China, and particularly to Ningxia, should you have an opportunity.
In My Opinion
Since my return, many people have asked my opinion on Ningxia as a wine region and on its wines, and I’m going to give you my honest take. In short, the word that comes to mind immediately for me is that both are interesting. Currently, there is a vast range in the level of quality in the wines, although I will note, those of good to outstanding quality are increasing in number, and I personally noted more than a few shining examples of delicious and memorable wines. Furthermore, the Ningxia region, a desert at its core, is not one I would have guessed would become a viable wine region which therefore, makes the advancements, investments, and results coming from the region all the more fascinating and admirable. But, before I fully delve in, I first want to say, I found the hospitality of the people in the region to be extremely welcoming and the wine industry to be passionate and proud - which likely bodes well towards its continued success.
Now, as for my thoughts on the Ningxia wine region and its wines, let’s start with a direct quote from Mr. Hao Linhai, the Founding Chairman of the Ningxia Wine Federation and recipient of the International Vine and Wine Organization (OIV)’s Merit Award, at our Masterclass on “Helan Mountain’s East Foothill: Terroir Code and the Creation of a World-class Wine Region.” Mr. Linhai said, that when he is asked if this is a world class wine region, he said he responds, “No. It has a long way to go.” He specifically cited that the region needs to make continued advancements in understanding terroir, determining grape varieties, yeasts, techniques, and equipment, and that he believes the region needs to commit to grape cultivation and authentic winemaking. I admire and respect Mr. Linai’s honesty, and I found it to be refreshing. I also concur with his assessment - which I say humbly as an outsider with limited exposure to and experience with Ningxia wines.
I personally found the wines of Ningxia (overall but not in their entirety) to lack identity and sense of self (and place). The majority of the wines feel to me as though they are trying to hit a particular mark, style, and sense of defined typicity. But based on an increasing number of more inspired samples I tasted, I also believe this is beginning to change and that the potential for wines from the region to find both their identity and a place on the world stage is high. Ningxia is relatively new region, and with only one harvest a year, it takes decades to understand terroir, what grows best, how to express said terroir through the wines, as well as to understand what will capture the market’s interest. I anticipate that as the industry matures, its sense of self will begin to take shape and that the wines will ultimately convey the land, the history, the culture, the climate, the soils, and the people stewarding the grapes from vine to bottle - and for that, I’m both eager and excited. It’s wine history in the making and I think Ningxia and its wines will prove to be an exciting addition to the world of wine.
In the Hopper
I have a lot more to share about Ningxia and my discoveries in the region, but next up are the macro-perspectives of Montefalco, Italy and Languedoc, France. After that, I’ll get into the nitty gritty details of what I found most fascinating in each of the three locations - everything from book reviews, grape varieties, winery highlights, vintage reports, wine recommendations, travel tips, and of course, the occasional random stories too. And per usual, I’ll rotate in all the behind the scenes pours and sips, local adventures, and current happenings. Welcome to my rabbit hole!
Wonderful to hear about this amazing trip. I have never even thought about the Chinese wine industry - to my shame. Sone lovely wines here - which really points out how pedestrian my regular choices are.
I have just read your story, am following Celi in admitting I had no idea whatsoever China even had a wine industry . . . and tho' I again 'promised' friends on various lists I would not 'send' them any further reading > a few more who may be ignorant methinks should be able to read :) !