French wine growers had their finely trained noses put out of joint when they were trounced by a group of Chinese wines in a blind tasting.
The event, which took place in Beijing, lined up five French wines against five from China.
To guarantee fair play, the judges were made up of five French and five Chinese wine experts.
Four wines from the north-western Ningxia region of China beat all the wines from Bordeaux, France’s most famous wine area.
The first placed wine was a cabernet sauvignon from the Grace Vineyard Chairman’s reserve.
It was left to a 2009 Lafite Saga from the Medoc area of Bordeaux to restore Gallic pride in fifth place.
The event was reminiscent of a similar contest in 1976 between French and American wines. Known as the Judgement of Paris, there was dismay in France when Californian wines beat their French opposition.
“The Ningxia region has huge potential,” said Nathalie Sibille, a Bordeaux specialist quoted in daily newspaper 20 Minutes.
“People will have to change their opinion of Chinese wines,” added one member of the jury, Fiona Sun.
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Matthew Warren (news@thelocal.fr)