Alfredo de la Casa has been organizing wine tastings for
over 20 years and has published three wine books, including
the Gourmand award winner for best wine education book.
You can reach him at http://www.wineinvietnam.com.CHEERS! WINE COLUMN
64 08/2019
JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO,
the owners of the iconic Chateau Lafite
(DBR), one of the top 5 Grand Cru of
Bordeaux, announced its first Chinese
wine, Long Dai, which will be released this
year and distributed by Pernord Ricard.
With so many countries that already
have a great tradition, as well as ideal
soil and climate conditions, of making
great wines, why did they choose China?
My guess is because DBR is trying to
get two things together, a quality name
for wine (the Chinese are all about
reputation rather than taste when
buying wine), and wine made in China
that fulfils their nationalistic ego, so they
will be given the best of both worlds. A
Chinese wine with a top Bordeaux name
will be sold out for sure!
Last year I had a chat with
international critic Jancis Robinson,
and she said: “I have been coming to
China for the last 20 years, and although
wine made in China has considerably
improved, there is still a long way to go.”
I totally agree.
Now, what about making wine in
Vietnam?
A few companies have tried and all
have failed. Dalat wine, which is neither
wine nor comes from Dalat, has gained
a reputation, not necessarily a good
one. The two or three companies that
make Dalat wine keep their strategy to
make something fast and quick, with
no regards to quality or taste, and cheat
by adding any fruit they can find to
increase volume.
There is at least one company in
Dalat importing wine, doing their
“magic” with chemicals to change color,
taste and smell, then bottling it under
any label the customers want. It does
not taste bad, they avoid high winetaxes, but again the word “cheat” comes
to my mind.
But what about growing proper
grapes here and making real wine?
That would be great, but of the many
companies that tried, including two
international big wine players, none
have succeeded. The reason is that
wine making needs knowledge but
also certain characteristics of the soil,
climate and weather, as well as certain
temperatures, usually continental and
Mediterranean seasons, but so far all of
that is not present in Vietnam. Perhaps
with climate change, soon we will be
able to enjoy real delicious Vietnamese
wine, similar to what you can find in
Thailand. And if you were wondering
about the Saigon wine that has appeared
in some minimarkets, well it is not from
Saigon and I’ll let you decide whether it
is wine or not. The undrinkable world of Vietnamese wine