At a Mid-Autumn Festival event this week celebrating the release of the 2019 vintage of LVMH’s Chinese wine Au Yun, author Janet Wang challenged the perception of China as a new winemaking country. The festival is traditionally held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-September to early October of the Gregorian calendar. The event was held at the Dorchester’s China Tang restaurant, with both the 2019 and 2017 vintages of Au Yun poured. The Mid-Autumn Festival also coincides with harvest time in the vineyards, and host Janet Wang, whose comprehensive book The Chinese Wine Renaissance: A Wine Lover’s Companion has won her much acclaim, explained that the festival is “filled with great symbolism”. Wang described China as a “New Old-World country” — a statement which she set as the premise of the tasting. Detailing the history of winemaking in China, Wang pinpointed key moments and figures associated with the long timeline of wine in the country. She spoke of the timeless poetry of Li Bai, going back to the Tang Dynasty, who was said to drink 100 cups of wine before allowing poetry to flow out of him. “We love him because he loves drinking,” Wang joked. Written records relating to “fermented wild fruit wine” go back to 7,000BC, according to Wang’s research. The author also argued that China lays claim to some of the oldest alcohol evidence, citing the Emperor of Wei as laying claim to
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Wine
