Jancis Robinson MW to Visit Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing in February 2010

True-blue wine connoisseurs are getting ready to embark on an odyssey as world-famous writer Jancis Robinson MW and China’s ASC Fine Wines, take local wine buffs on a journey around the wonderful world of wine.

For three nights only in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, the first lady of wine will divulge the geographical diversity of wine ahead of the mid-year launch of the local edition of her best-selling World Atlas of Wine, co-authored by fellow wine doyen Hugh Johnson. The tome, published in 14 languages and having sold over 4 million copies since its 1971 inception, sees its first simplified Chinese version in 2010.

To whet appetites and gear aspiring travelers for their voyage once the roadmap is released, ASC Wines and Jancis Robinson will present a series of ultra-premium wine dinners hosted at Shangri-la properties in each city.

Each dinner will feature top-rated and award-winning wines from the ASC portfolio paired with exquisite local delicacies prepared by the hotels’ team of celebrated chefs. In Shanghai and Beijing guests will be given a taste of each corner of the wine world through world-class producers such as Bollinger, Gaja, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Penfolds; whilst in Hong Kong guests will enjoy great wines from producers such as Ayala, Louis Jadot, Peter Lehmann, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, among others. A part of the event proceeds will be donated to Room to Read, which is an innovative non-profit leader dedicated to promoting and enabling global education.

Attendees will also be the first in China to receive a copy of the Atlas. Each guest will be given a voucher to exchange for a copy of the local edition when it is released later in the year.

Undoubtedly the spotlight of the event will fall on the widely-published Ms Robinson, who writes daily for www.JancisRobinson.com , weekly for the Financial Times and is widely admired for her independence. Her only consultancies are with British Airways and Her Majesty the Queen.

Awarded a Master of Wine in 1984 – the first person outside the wine trade at the time – Ms Robinson has published countless best-selling works on wine and has appeared in an award-winning 10-episode BBC television series Jancis Robinson’s Wine Course. Her knowledge on wine is unparalleled and her encyclopedic list of contacts includes the who’s who of the international wine world.

Jancis Robinson MW is another in a long-list of wine personalities ASC has hosted in recent years. With a portfolio of more than 1,000 wines from over 100 suppliers in 15 different countries, “China’s greatest fine wine importer” (according to Robert M. Parker Jr) has introduced local wine lovers to key personnel in the global wine trade such Angelo Gaja, wine maker Peter Gago, famous Australian wine writer Jeremy Oliver as well as the grand doyen of them all, the world’s most famous wine critic Robert Parker.