The recent spam about the greatness of Chinese wines came to mind
tonight as we sat around the low table with my students attempting to
drink a bottle of Great Wall. Retailing at like 150RMB (about
18-20USD depending on Erate), you would expect a decent experience or
at least something better than utter swill. The Chinese keep the age-
old tradition of high prices for low quality goods well alive in Great
Wall.

Marked Cabernet Sauvignon, the bottle had elaborate pictures with some
patriotic stars and other insignias that I supposed was to make one
feel pride in partaking of the grapes of the motherland. No date, no
mention of production, or any other particular information was
available on the bottle other than some scrawlings of Chinese here and
there talking about the fake history of the company and the address of
where the factory is located.

Fake cork that shattered and splintered in the Guangdong humidity upon
opening. Suspect poor storage for poor wine.

The color was a deep maroon?

Nose: Sour grape juice, asphalt, smog, dirty rags

The brew didn't go down as smooth as the nose. It seems the tannins
had been completely removed somehow which made me think Welshes grape
juice had more "pucker". First impressions were sort of raunchy with
a definite feel of some kind of chemically produced, soured grape
juice. Palate....I don't even know how to describe it. If you can
imagine the smell of asphalt in your mouth, that's about it.

Now my stomach hurts and I feel dizzy.


This is a 20 dollar bottle of Chinese wine that luckily I didn't have
to pay for. But, there was a lot of freebees that were "song" (given
for free), like a bottle stand/opener, to try to add value to an
already expensive wine. Terrible experience

F-

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:01:50 -0700
Mydnight > wrote:

> Now my stomach hurts and I feel dizzy.
>

Thanks, I really enjoyed your notes! If it were less expensive I'd
be tempted to seek out a bottle just for the experience.

-E

--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Mydnight wrote:

> The recent spam about the greatness of Chinese
> wines came to mind tonight as we sat around the
> low table with my students attempting to
> drink a bottle of Great Wall. Retailing at like
> 150RMB (about 18-20USD depending on Erate), you
> would expect a decent experience or
> at least something better than utter swill. The
> Chinese keep the age- old tradition of high
> prices for low quality goods well alive in Great
> Wall.
>
> Marked Cabernet Sauvignon, the bottle had
> elaborate pictures with some patriotic stars and
> other insignias that I supposed was to make one
> feel pride in partaking of the grapes of the
> motherland. No date, no mention of production,
> or any other particular information was
> available on the bottle other than some
> scrawlings of Chinese here and there talking
> about the fake history of the company and the
> address of where the factory is located.
>
> Fake cork that shattered and splintered in the
> Guangdong humidity upon
> opening. Suspect poor storage for poor wine.
>
> The color was a deep maroon?
>
> Nose: Sour grape juice, asphalt, smog, dirty
> rags
>
> The brew didn't go down as smooth as the nose.
> It seems the tannins had been completely removed
> somehow which made me think Welshes grape
> juice had more "pucker". First impressions were
> sort of raunchy with a definite feel of some
> kind of chemically produced, soured grape
> juice. Palate....I don't even know how to
> describe it. If you can imagine the smell of
> asphalt in your mouth, that's about it.
>
> Now my stomach hurts and I feel dizzy.
>
>
> This is a 20 dollar bottle of Chinese wine that
> luckily I didn't have
> to pay for. But, there was a lot of freebees
> that were "song" (given for free), like a bottle
> stand/opener, to try to add value to an
> already expensive wine. Terrible experience
>
> F-

And just think - they are poisoning or pets,
putting poison in toothpaste and are exporting
over the counter drugs (which receive little or
no inspection on US side) to the US - AND the
chemicals used to manufacture "Drugs made in USA"
The Chinese have found the free market way to
conquer America and the present Administration is
doing their bidding.

Paul E. Lehmann wrote:

>
> And just think - they are poisoning or pets,
> putting poison in toothpaste and are exporting
> over the counter drugs (which receive little or
> no inspection on US side) to the US - AND the
> chemicals used to manufacture "Drugs made in USA"
> The Chinese have found the free market way to
> conquer America and the present Administration is
> doing their bidding.

The present Administration is still trying to payoff the folks who got
them into office the last time.

With the money men out of the picture, maybe it will be a fairer race in
2008.

Maybe, but I doubt it. :-\

donald

On Jul 2, 6:33 am, Emery Davis > wrote:
> On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:01:50 -0700
>
> Mydnight > wrote:
> > Now my stomach hurts and I feel dizzy.
>
> Thanks, I really enjoyed your notes! If it were less expensive I'd
> be tempted to seek out a bottle just for the experience.


Well, the stuff that goes for like 40 or 50RMB tastes exactly like the
150RMB stuff. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to believe that it's
the same stuff in a different bottle.

In article . com>,
Mydnight > wrote:

> On Jul 2, 6:33 am, Emery Davis > wrote:
> > On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:01:50 -0700
> >
> > Mydnight > wrote:
> > > Now my stomach hurts and I feel dizzy.
> >
> > Thanks, I really enjoyed your notes! If it were less expensive I'd
> > be tempted to seek out a bottle just for the experience.
>
>
> Well, the stuff that goes for like 40 or 50RMB tastes exactly like the
> 150RMB stuff. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to believe that it's
> the same stuff in a different bottle.

You're probably correct but believe or not in China there are even worse
wines for a higher price. I drank one that I only remember what the
label looked like a picture of a dolphin on the label that smelled like
and tasted like lighter fluid and was $35 USD. I think they meant it to
be a molotov cocktail but got mixed up at the store!

> You're probably correct but believe or not in China there are even worse
> wines for a higher price. I drank one that I only remember what the
> label looked like a picture of a dolphin on the label that smelled like
> and tasted like lighter fluid and was $35 USD. I think they meant it to
> be a molotov cocktail but got mixed up at the store!

I laughed out loud when I read this; mainly because it's true. In 3
years of pursuit of some remotely drinkable Chinese grape wine and
wading through wretched imports, I have just about given up. If price
is NO PROBLEM to you and you are willing to pay 3 or 4 times the
normal price for wine that's considered "nothing special but
drinkable", China is a wonderland. For the rest of us living in stark
reality and concerned about quality moreso than quantity, tea is a
better option. But tea has its problems too.

On Jul 2, 9:11 pm, Mydnight > wrote:
> > You're probably correct but believe or not in China there are even worse
> > wines for a higher price. I drank one that I only remember what the
> > label looked like a picture of a dolphin on the label that smelled like
> > and tasted like lighter fluid and was $35 USD. I think they meant it to
> > be a molotov cocktail but got mixed up at the store!
>
> I laughed out loud when I read this; mainly because it's true. In 3
> years of pursuit of some remotely drinkable Chinese grape wine and
> wading through wretched imports, I have just about given up. If price
> is NO PROBLEM to you and you are willing to pay 3 or 4 times the
> normal price for wine that's considered "nothing special but
> drinkable", China is a wonderland. For the rest of us living in stark
> reality and concerned about quality moreso than quantity, tea is a
> better option. But tea has its problems too.

Now perhaps you are ready to try Chinese and other Asian spirits. I
still have a small bottle of Ng Ky Py that is still nearly full,
because everyone who has tasted it can not get past the first sip. It
is the color of mercurochrome, and one person described it as tasting
like he would expect mercurochrome to taste. I believe it may be made
using broom corn. I don't think it includes any animal products, such
as snake urine, as a few strange drinks from Asia do.

In article om>,
cwdjrxyz > wrote:

> On Jul 2, 9:11 pm, Mydnight > wrote:
> > > You're probably correct but believe or not in China there are even worse
> > > wines for a higher price. I drank one that I only remember what the
> > > label looked like a picture of a dolphin on the label that smelled like
> > > and tasted like lighter fluid and was $35 USD. I think they meant it to
> > > be a molotov cocktail but got mixed up at the store!
> >
> > I laughed out loud when I read this; mainly because it's true. In 3
> > years of pursuit of some remotely drinkable Chinese grape wine and
> > wading through wretched imports, I have just about given up. If price
> > is NO PROBLEM to you and you are willing to pay 3 or 4 times the
> > normal price for wine that's considered "nothing special but
> > drinkable", China is a wonderland. For the rest of us living in stark
> > reality and concerned about quality moreso than quantity, tea is a
> > better option. But tea has its problems too.
>
> Now perhaps you are ready to try Chinese and other Asian spirits. I
> still have a small bottle of Ng Ky Py that is still nearly full,
> because everyone who has tasted it can not get past the first sip. It
> is the color of mercurochrome, and one person described it as tasting
> like he would expect mercurochrome to taste. I believe it may be made
> using broom corn. I don't think it includes any animal products, such
> as snake urine, as a few strange drinks from Asia do.

Is that meant to sound appealing?

> Now perhaps you are ready to try Chinese and other Asian spirits. I
> still have a small bottle of Ng Ky Py that is still nearly full,
> because everyone who has tasted it can not get past the first sip. It
> is the color of mercurochrome, and one person described it as tasting
> like he would expect mercurochrome to taste. I believe it may be made
> using broom corn. I don't think it includes any animal products, such
> as snake urine, as a few strange drinks from Asia do.

I've had snake poison wine made by farmer friends of mine, and
ironically, it's supposed to help you detoxify. I also tried 30 year
old tiger wine in the middle of no where out in the Sichuan province.
That's for virility. Oddly enough, the Chinese in their infinite
wisdom, never thought that exercise, a good diet, and NOT DRINKING TOO
MUCH TERPENTINE could help you with all your health problems. TCM all
the way; don't fix it until it's broke.

On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 00:33:22 +0200, Emery Davis
> wrote:

>On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:01:50 -0700
>Mydnight > wrote:
>
>> Now my stomach hurts and I feel dizzy.
>>
>
>Thanks, I really enjoyed your notes! If it were less expensive I'd
>be tempted to seek out a bottle just for the experience.
>


I pickd up two bottles in the hotel ( 375 mL ) so I could bring home
and let my family try.

Bottom line -- no one got past the first sip of either; I believe
these were both Dragon Seal ; the comment on Great Wall apply