They won first place by identifying six red and six white wines, the area of origin, grape variety, vintage, etc.. China steps up grape cultivation, with European experts that help improve the quality.
Paris (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A group of Chinese sommeliers has won a taste contest in France, even beating French experts. Experts define the incident as "a rod of lightning in the wine world."
The Chinese came first out of 21 groups of participants; the French came second; Americans third; Spanish - champions last year - only tenth.
They were the best in identifying 12 wines, six white and six red, of which they had to identify the nation of origin, grape variety, vintage, manufacturers, the geographical definition.
According to the event organizer "Revue du vin de France", the "amazing Chinese team" remained very "humble" in victory, admitting that "with the blindfolded tasting [bottles], 50% is knowledge; 50% is luck".
The Chinese wine industry is becoming increasingly popular. At present, there are about 800 thousand hectares of land planted with vines in the country. The quality of the wines is not very high yet, but there are Italian, French and Spanish experts who are working to improve it.