Every now and then I buy some Chinese wine.  It it easy to find, cheap and makes for a great gift.  I spend between 25 and 40 rmb ($2 – $3.25), which no doubt partially explains the bad quality of the wine I drink.  When I used to live in Kunming my roommate and I often happily drank Yunnan dry red wine, a nice dry table wine.  Most days now I stay far away from the stuff.  You never know if the wine will be good or if it will fall flat (finding a good wine is often due to luck since the price tag has little to do with how good the wine is).

So it was with some surprise that I read this article in the New York Times Magazine about the future of the Chinese wine industry.

In May, Berry Brothers & Rudd, England’s oldest independent wine merchant, dropped an oenological bombshell. In its “Future of Wine Report,” it predicted that in 50 years, China would be the world’s leading wine producer. What’s more, noting China’s favorable soil, low labor costs and soaring domestic demand for wine, the authors concluded that China has “all the essential ingredients to make fine wine to rival the best of Bordeaux.”

I guess to drink some good Chinese wine all one needs is a bit of patience, like all great wines.