China Plum Wine RELATED LINKS Best Wine Buys, Tips and Videos

By Rose Kennedy

East and West may be meeting in the middle on other cultural fronts, but where wine is concerned China is still a world apart. It imports very little wine, for example, exports even less and the leading Great Wall brand is just one of the wineries owned by the state.

And Chinese wines aren't available at every corner package store, though they do turn up online (notably at AK's World of Wines, LLC), in Chinese markets and occasionally in wine stores or restaurants.

Then there's the wine itself. While some Chinese wine is grape varietal, most is distilled from rice, millet and other grains, as well as herbs and flowers. The Chinese word for wine, "Jiu" refers to a much wider range of alcoholic beverages than what's considered wine in other countries and both traditional dessert plum wines and Gao Liang and Mao Tai, fiery distillations with an alcohol content of 70 per cent!

For a taste of Chinese culture, FineLiving.com found 10 Chinese wines worthy of consideration.

First Chinese Wine: Dragon Seal Cabernet Sauvignon 2003