Gérard Colin
Gérard Colin
(Image credit: Zhao Ruiyue / China Daily)

Winemaker Gérard Colin, an early pioneer for Chinese wine, died at the age of 75, on 9th February.

Chinese wine pioneer Gérard Colin dies

Gérard Colin studied oenology at the University of Bordeaux and worked for both Château Teyssier in St-Émilion and Château Clarke in Listrac, before becoming a consultant and winemaker.

During his first visit to China in the early 1990s he met CK Chan, the owner of Grace Vineyards, in the Shanxi province.

Colin went on to be appointed as the consultant of Grace Vineyards in 2001 where he shared his wine knowledge and experience from time in Bordeaux.

He grew Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, applied traditional techniques from Bordeaux and Grace Vineyard went on to be recognised for its high standards of quality.

He was a pioneer of fine wine in China and one of the first winemakers to acquire quality awards for a Chinese wine.

Alberto Fernandez of Torres, the first major distributor to handle Grace, spoke of the warmth of Colin during his initial visit: ‘Gerard Colin received me with a big hug.’

In 2006, Domaines Barons de Rothschild, Lafite, decided to create a Chinese vineyard and hired Gérard Colin as director of the DBR Citic Wine Estate.

From choosing the region, the terroir and the grapes, Gérard Colin helped create from scratch Lafite’s wine interests in China.

After leaving the DBR Citic Wine Estate, he started a vineyard in the province of Xinjiang along the silk route, and since 2014 had been working on a wine tourism project in the province of Shandong.

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Yohan Castaing
Yohan Castaing
Decanter Magazine and DWWA Judge

Bordeaux native Yohan Castaing is a freelance journalist, based in France. He reviews wines from the Loire, Languedoc, Roussillon, Provence, southwest France and Champagne houses for The Wine Advocate. He founded Anthocyanes, a French wine guide, and Velvety Tannins, a guide to the wines of the Rhône Valley. He also writes for wine publications including Gault&Millau and Jancis Robinson. Castaing has held a variety of positions in the wine industry such as wine buyer and marketing director. He was a wine marketing consultant and the author of several books about wine marketing and wine tourism before, in 2011, he became a full-time freelance wine journalist focusing on the industry and wine reviews.