[WATCH] James Suckling’s Deep China Tour 2019

In June, I spent a week on a tour of ‘deep China’, taking some of the key wine producers of the world and their wines to meet thousands of wine lovers across the country. We traveled with China’s leading wine merchant and distributor COFCO, which licenses our tasting notes, videos, and reports to inform and educate Chinese consumers. Our tasting notes and reviews are used throughout China by many wine merchants and wine lovers, both on and offline. JamesSuckling.com has about 20,000 followers on social media and apps in China.

The first stop on the tour was Shenyang in the northeast - just 100 kilometers from the North Korea border. We then headed to Zhengzhou, the ancient capital of the Shang dynasty, before heading onto Nanjing and finishing in Hangzhou. We also had a quick stop in Shenzhen where I visited Ole wine cellar, one of the biggest wine merchants and premium supermarket chains in South China.

I gave many interviews and met hundreds of fans during the tour. I lost count of all the selfies and photos taken. There were thousands of keen wine lovers tasting these excellent wines in all the cities we visited. It’s always amazing to see how far China has come regarding people’s appreciation of wine. JamesSuckling.com is based in China and we regularly travel to Mainland China, so we see firsthand how the potential for wine consumption here is huge and real. China is already the No. 1 export market for Australia, Chile and Bordeaux. I believe it will be the No. 1 wine market in the world by 2025. It will be bigger than the US wine market.

And that’s because more and more young people in China are starting to understand fine wines, and show great enthusiasm and interest in premium wines especially. More and more are traveling the world and tasting and learning about fine wines as they do so. They equate wine with sophistication and image, which are so important in all parts of Asia.

Check out the video of my trip above.