Chinese wine can be very good, I tried the Cab Sav 2015 version of this wine earlier in the year. It’s good, medal winning quality. This is even better. This is from the north west part of China, south of the Gobi desert. They reckon Marselan is the Chinese grape, like Bacchus is for the UK.
There are aromas and flavours of red fruit, black fruits. Soft tannins and mellow tasting make this a great bottle
Ho Lan Soul, 2015 Marselan, China
China is making a lot of wine, its area under management has been said to be the biggest of any country and production of wine will no doubt follow. People poo poo Chinese wine but it’s pretty good and getting better all the time. There are a few that get Decanter gold medals for their quality, now it doesn’t get much better than that.
Previous vintages have received Decanter awards in the past but I can’t see if this vintage got one. Made in the North West China, near the Gobi desert and with Cabernet Sauvignon and organic this is a dry red wine with loads of dark fruit, cherry, plum with medium tannins. It’s the tannin level that shows that the wine makers thought of balance and complexity and got reasonable right. Theres lots going on here and for me a bronze medal wine. Its not outstanding but better than so many others out there. If you see Chinese wine give it a go.
Ho-lan Soul reserve 2015, Dry red from China