#123 - Judy Chan: Grace Vineyard and the Rise of Chinese Wine

A psychology degree, an investment banking desk, and one family dinner that changed everything. Judy Chan walked into her father's business expecting an office job and walked out with a brand-new winery, a million bottles of wine and no one to sell them to. We joined her at Silène, our favorite wine bar in Hong Kong, to hear how she turned that mess into a pioneering name in Chinese wine.

Judy Chan runs Grace Vineyard, one of China's best-known wineries, now approaching its 30th anniversary. She takes us from a freezing staff dormitory in Shanxi, where she could not see her own hands at night, to Ningxia, a bet on thick-skinned Marselan, vines that must be buried every winter, and a jasmine gin small enough to slip into a back pocket.

Pour yourself a glass and dive in: Judy shares a blind-tasting test that went her way by sheer luck, a Harvard Business School case that no longer applies to anything, and the question she is still wrestling with today, how to make a legendary label feel new again.

▬▬ 🎁 GIFTS 🎁 ▬▬

📚 Let Only Red Flowers Bloom, by Emily Feng
🍇 Learn more about Grace Vineyard
🍷 Discover the best wine selection of Hong Kong at Silène, the Hong Kong wine bar where we recorded the episode

🎁 Get your wine essentials on our shop: a curated selection of wine accessories, posters and much more

🗺️ Get the best French Wine Map: as information as decorative

▬▬ ⭐️ ABOUT ⭐️ ▬▬

My name is Antoine, and I’ve been passionate about wine for several years. I knew nothing at first, so I went out to meet the biggest figures in the industry and turned those encounters into a podcast that’s now listened to by over 100,000 people. I now share with you what I’ve learned, and I hope we embark together on a beautiful wine journey to discover the finest experiences.

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