The Economist.
Cover the label and don't say anything.
That's what Emma Gao, owner of Silver Heights Vineyard, told me when I met her at her winery's tasting room in Ningxia.
She tells me that the moment you say the wine is made in China, people will assume it's no good.
But when they taste it blind, it speaks for itself.
You might be surprised to hear China has a wine industry at all.
After all, it's a country better known for its baijiu and beer than burgundy.
But while China's wine industry is small, it has big ambitions.
Chinese winemakers are starting to win more international awards.
Some bottles are selling for hundreds of dollars a pop, and
Xi Jinping
even served Chinese wine to a French president when he came to China.
So today we're asking, is Chinese wine actually any good?
And perhaps more importantly, do people want to drink it?
I'm Sarah Wu, the Economist's China correspondent in Beijing.
I'm Jeremy Page, the Economist's chief China correspondent in Taipei.
And this is Drum Tower from the Economist.
Hi, Jeremy.
Hi, Sarah, great to see you.
I'm really glad that we're doing this episode today because we've spoken a lot about geopolitics recently,