Decanter Archives - Dr. Liz Thach, MW

The Queen of Campania Wine

(May 2016) Milena Pepe, CEO of Tenuta Cavelier Pepe, swept across the front porch of her winery to greet us with open arms and a huge Italian welcome. The winery, located in the rolling hills of Campania, looked like a small palace with tall white pillars along the front and the vineyards beyond. Milena beckoned us to line up on the porch for a photo, and then for the next two hours, she proceeded to dazzle, delight, and inform us about the unique wines of Campania and the many indigenous grape varieties she is using at her estate. Visit to Tenuta [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T13:44:27-08:00July 3, 2016|

Chateau Helan Quingxue – Winner of 2011 Decanter International Trophy, Ningxia, China

(Dec. 2013) - The next afternoon we visited Chateau Helan Quingxue which is housed in a more modest structure of red brick and reminded me of a combination of Soviet and Chinese architecture. Inside there is a modern winery with stainless steel tanks, a small barrel room, and a very large visitor’s center. Though not finished yet, this part of the winery is designed to showcase all of the wines of Ningxia so that visitors can taste all of the brands in one location. We were greeted with much enthusiasm by the petite and vivacious winemaker, Zhang Jing. She speaks [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:38:45-08:00January 2, 2014|

Grand Welcome Banquet in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China

August 29, 2012 - After time to relax in our rooms a bit, we were asked to meet in the hotel lobby at 5:15 in order to walk over to a formal reception with the governor of the Ningxia region. Most of us dressed in formal clothing and arrived at the reception room to find we each had a large white lounge chair to sit in with our name printed on a red sign in both English and Chinese. Translators assisted with the very impressive ceremony of announcing each official – around ten of them, as well as our group [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:21:05-08:00September 10, 2012|