When the Delicious West Meets the Thirsty East: Finding a common language

The language of wine is one of the most complicated in terms of industry jargon: specific flavour-words like blackberry, raspberry and chocolate could actually bring the average consumer to the point of frustration because what winemakers are referring to is so subtle. Moreover we all seem to be locked in to these invisible handcuffs that keep us all confined to using the same terminology as Europeans have traditionally used to describe wine.

Messages in bottles on Chinese shores
China has been a star performer as a fast-growing economy, and alongside this, has become one of the fastest growing wine markets in the world. So when you take a primarily a western experience to the east, in particular China, the Chinese are likewise handcuffed at all different levels of appreciation to using western terms. While fruit like raspberries are widely seen in the West, they are not commercially grown in China.

There has been a lot of effort over the years to accurately translate English-language tasting notes into Chinese, and in a lot of cases the results have been largely meaningless. How can you actually translate Game Meat into Chinese? The notion of gamey flavours based on a long tradition of eating hung wild game in Europe is not done in China.

However, all is not lost. There are now a critical mass of sophisticated consumers in first tier China cities who are quite confident and secure in their own knowledge. In these circles wines are compared to Chinese medicine. Other descriptions are based on flavours like sugar cane juice, burnt congee, black beans, and locally popular fruit such as lychee and logan – in short, the reference flavours are locally-grown foods and local taste experiences. However, this trend is relatively recent, perhaps only revealing itself in the last one or two years, but the result is that wine described in this way is open to more and more Chinese consumers, previously baffled by western direct translations

Actually, by virtue of the language, Chinese descripts foods holistically rather by components. The combinations of words give a more complete picture of the taste. And this is the most important thing.

A good example of the kind of vocabulary used by the Chinese to describe food is xiantian – this is just one word meaning flavour-sweet, or flavour succulent. It is actually very difficult to translate into English precisely, but it implies something about the flavour that is both sweet and fresh at the same time, and it could be applied to a whole range of foods, irrespective of their component parts.

Chinese are sharp-tasters and the concept of freshness is key. The average Chinese diner can tell the difference in taste for the same dish prepared using either a frozen or a fresh chicken.

The Chinese and the future of wine descriptions
In future I see the Chinese wine industry developing, partly by virtue of its own increasing self confidence, with an increasing ability to describe wines in ways that local people can understand and fully appreciate. I am sure that the Western vocabulary will continue to be used as a reference, but words originating in the West will gradually become less and less central. Only by speaking the same language will the delicious West truly meet the thirsty East!

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