Many office workers in the capital
choose to take a wine-tasting course
out of interest as well as for
social benefit. Photos by Yan
Xiaoqing / China Daily
Beijingers are paying good money to
learn about the world of grapes,
Wang Wen discovers.
Chen Rui badly wanted to impress his
friends at social gatherings by
talking knowledgably about wine, so
earlier this month he enrolled in a
nine-hour wine-tasting course. "If I
can talk about wine when we are
having a drink, my friends will
think I have good taste,? said the
30-year-old, who works for a
consulting company in Beijing.
Many office workers in the city are
taking wine-tasting courses for the
same reasons as Chen: they want to
appear more sociable by enjoying a
glass of wine.
"Wine is a better choice for
socializing. Not everyone likes golf
or horse riding, but most people can
drink some wine," said Lu Jiang,
chief wine advisor for Wine Online
Culture, a company that conducts
wine-tasting courses and promotes
wine culture in Beijing.
Wine is international and the whole
world has similar standards, so
people from different regions can
easily exchange their views about
wine while they socialize, he said.
Chen Rui said after the course he
now knows the main categories of
wine and can tell which wines come
from which areas.
"The knowledge allows me to talk
with other people at dinner," he
said. "I can even tell them that
champagne from France made in 1998
is better than that made in 2000."
An Qi, a 25-year-old woman, who
tried wine for the first time six
years ago when she was studying in
Britain, also enjoys a better social
life thanks to her knowledge of
wine.
"It is easy to start a conversation
when I know more about the wine we
are drinking ," she said.
An, who attended Lu's class last
March, said she works with some
overseas business partners and wine
is always a part of their dinners.
"Our conversations at the table
always involve wine," An said.
If she did not know about wine, she
would be embarrassed and the
atmosphere at the table would be
awkward, An said. As well, she would
not be able to order a bottle of
special wine for important guests,
or choose a suitable wine as a gift
for someone, such as ice wine, which
is sweet, for her female friends.
An also joined the Wine Online Club,
which has more than 1,000 members,
all from Lu's classes. The members
get together to taste and discuss
wine several times a month.
"The club is a way of delivering
deeper knowledge of wine to the
members. They can continue to learn
after the classes have finished," Lu
Jiang said.
Every month, Lu, who is also an
international wine educator
accredited by L'Ecole du Vin,
teaches classes lasting two, four or
nine hours. They cost a minimum of
350 yuan a person.
Lu said that because students want
more and deeper wine knowledge, the
nine-hour classes have become more
popular recently, despite the fee of
more than 700 yuan for each class.
More kinds of wines can be
introduced in the nine-hour classes,
he said.
In these classes, Lu teaches the
history of wine and introduces its
five main categories. Trainees can
taste four kinds of wine and, as
part of the appreciation class, can
discuss their responses to the
varieties.
After some years of encouragement,
wine has found its way onto Chinese
tables.
For some years, wine industry
insiders have been doing
appreciation courses and often
receiving certificates from
international organizations. These
qualifications boost their careers.
Recently, more amateurs, including
managers and owners of enterprises,
have been enrolling in courses.
Statistics from one of the
biggest wine education
organizations, show that 40 percent
of their trainees are amateurs.
Lu said that amateurs take his
courses for a range of reasons.
Health is the first consideration of
older people, according to Lu.
Zhang Feng, a senior manager of an
enterprise in Beijing, who is in his
50s, said that two years ago a
doctor told him he was at risk of
developing high cholesterol and
suggested he drink a little wine
every day. Zhang soon bought his
first bottle of wine.
"I don't know whether it is because
of the wine, but I didn't develop
high cholesterol, " Zhang said.
For whatever reason they start to
drink wine, people are becoming
interested in it and eventually they
discover the glamour of wine, Lu
said.
The figures show that Chinese people
are drinking more wine.
The latest figures show that the
volume of wine consumed in China
doubled from 2005 to 2009.
(China Daily 04/27/2011)
Metro
