With a misty winter fog of car exhaust and coal, a rowdy road offering sights and sounds; namely stopped cars and non-stop honking, we patiently sat with Fengshou Winery's driver and staff and thought: welcome to Beijing. Meanwhile, we were wondering what to expect from our first winery visit of the project.

Crowds and traffic aside, Beijing proved a quite welcoming stay. Arriving at Fengshou Winery, we were greeted by their CEO Mr. Zhang, Board Member Cindy, and many more. The winery, located just outside of Beijing, shares its grape source between its own vineyards in the Hebei province and from imports from abroad (Generally from Australia and Chile). One of the largest wineries in China, Fengshou caters many different labels throughout its domestically diverse market and its sheer volume production is only hinted at as we stand dwarfed by 200 ton tanks below:

At the winery's headquarters we were treated with the enterprise's higher end wine, 'Harvest,' which though is presented vintage-less proved a treat for curious palates, and two bottles of these have been donated towards our auction. In addition to two other bottles of 'Harvest Cab,' which were also donated, the foundation for a great representation of Chinese wines has been set for our auction!

'Fengshou' itself means 'Harvest,' and the label of the flagship wine is adorned with a representation of Beijing's cultural symbol, the temple of Heaven. This monument is where one would traditionally go to pray for good crops, and the label thus seems to authentically tie viticulture with sino-culture.

The Logo on Fengshou Winery label is of Beijing's Temple of Heaven, a popular place for sports of all kinds, though originally made to pray for good harvest.

Following this philosophy, Fengshou treated us to a sight of the ancient capital with a visit to the Summer Palace. Still splendid in the winter, this amazing park opened to the public only in the 70s and is a sight of walkways, water (well, its ice if you come when we did), and temples.

Fengshou also showed us the culture of cuisine which China has spent centuries mastering, which in variety seems to surpass all others. A locally popular business hot-spot paid homage to this truth, with seasoned soybeans, fried eggplant, and a fish stew so hot Anja had to cry, adding to our already discovered pigeon meat, chicken feet, and sea cucumber.

A delicious dinner with Fengshou Winery, and Georges showing off his stylish polo, printed early December 2009 with sponsors supporting the project!

Though some may say Chinese cuisine does not offer itself readily to pairing with wine, we beg to differ from what we have seen, a view that is reinforced by China's move towards dryer wines. We invite you to pair yourself with a taste of local production through our auction, and as 1.7 billion people begin presenting a new market for wines, you can bet this industry is just going to start booming.

Join us for our next blogs as we go to Grace Vineyards and Dragon Seal Winery!

~Anja and Georges