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Approximate number of Chinese-owned chateaux in Bordeaux according to London’s Financial Times. China is the world’s top importer of Bordeaux wine (in value). Over the last few years, Chinese millionaires and billionaires have been on something of a buying spree, scooping up mostly mid-range chateaux. Chinese owners generally export most of their chateau’s wine production to China. A bottle of Bordeaux can sell for 10 times as much in China as the same bottle does in France.

Marsala, the historic sweet fortified wine from Sicily, comes in three colors.

Answer: True.

Marsala comes in just three colors—oro ("golden"), ambra ("amber"), and rubino ("ruby"), although rubino is extremely rare. Each type can be made at three levels of sweetness: fairly dry (secco, 4% residual sugar), noticeably sweet (semisecco, 4-10% residual sugar), and very sweet (dolce, over 10% residual sugar). All Marsala is fortified to 17-18% alcohol. Despite numerous cheap supermarket examples, Marsala can be extremely delicious when made by a first-rate producer, like De Bartoli.

The “Wine” of July 4th

One wine, more than any other, is strongly associated with the history of the United States. That wine is Madeira. Drunk by the founding fathers during the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Madeira was… Continue reading

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