Interview: Fongyee Walker, MW on judging the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards

As Chinese wines step confidently onto the global stage, the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards is set to cement its place as a major force behind the movement. We speak to Fongyee Walker MW, one of the leading voices shaping the future of Chinese wine.

With the world turning its gaze towards China wine, one wine competition in particular is staking its claim as a pivotal force in reshaping global perceptions: the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards. First introduced last year to shine the spotlight on the best wines produced across China, it is today the largest and most influential competition of its kind focused on Chinese wines.

The second edition of the awards will be held on 11 April at Wynn Palace Macau, with nearly 900 wines from close to 200 wineries across China competing. A luminary panel of 27 world-renowned wine experts – including a whopping 10 Masters of Wine, three Master Sommeliers, and one industry expert with dual MW and MS certifications – were appointed to evaluate these wines blind under the strictest international standards, and medals awarded based on a tiered scoring system across various categories.

Ahead of the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards ceremony to reveal the ultimate list of winners, we sit down with Fongyee Walker MW, one of the competition’s distinguished judges, to understand why this moment matters, and how Chinese wines are evolving on the world stage. A leading authority on Chinese wine and a tireless advocate for its future, Fongyee brings unparalleled insight into what makes Chinese terroir special, how standards are rising, and why the best is yet to come.

Share with us the vision behind the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards. What sets it apart from other wine competitions?

The vision of the Wine Awards is to find China’s greatest wines and to encourage the wine industry in China as a whole to raise their standards to make better wines, to pursue the best quality that they can do.

What sets it apart is the international judging system and caliber of judges. Eddie McDougall, Chairman of the Judges for the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards, has assembled a very professional and high caliber panel of judges, not only from China but from all around the world, including 10 Masters of Wine (MW), three Master Sommeliers (MS) and one industry expert with dual MW and MS certifications, who can express and discuss what great Chinese wine should be.

As vice chair, what role do you play in shaping the judging process and ensuring credibility?

My role is to encourage the panels to find the truly best wines and help them to understand certain styles of wine. For example, in the competition we had a beautiful wine made from rose honey which is a grape that none of the international judges are familiar with. As I am more familiar with the diversity of Chinese grapes, I took the initiative to explain why one was a great quality wine and that it deserves recognition.

Including myself, the vice chairs of the Chinese Wine Awards are to make sure the results are aligned – none of us are perfect and sometimes there are styles that are hard to understand.

What criteria will the judging panel be looking for when evaluating wines, and how do they reflect the evolving identity of Chinese wine?

When we were evaluating wines in this competition, we look for the classic indications of quality: the length, the mouthfeel, the layers of flavour, the shape of the tannins.

Apart from that, we’re also looking for styles that may indicate to Chinese winemakers that they have a good potential to do well in the future. Some with potential may not get gold now, but they are seen to be on the right track and we can taste the quality in the way the wines express themselves.

Which were the wines that impressed you the most in last year’s competition?

I am a huge fan of sweet wine. The one that impressed me the most was the Domaine Franco-Chinois Petit Manseng – what a glorious wine!

Which wine regions in China are you most excited to see competing this year, and why?

I was very excited to see a larger entry from Gansu province because they produce quite a bit of wine and it’s nice to see them entering. I think they have some work to do in order to reach an international standard, but it was great to see such a group with high potential to take part in this competition.

How do you see this competition influencing the perception of Chinese wines on both domestic and global stages?

This competition gives the global audience an entryway, a gateway into understanding high-quality Chinese wines. There are a lot of wines being produced now in China and this award makes this easier to introduce Chinese wines on a global stage as it’s judged by a reputable and high-level group of judges. These award-winning wines thus represent the best in China. This extends to the domestic stage as well as it’s very difficult for consumers in China to distinguish a great Chinese wine.

With that, the impact lies both within and outside of China – acting as a very important platform to celebrate the best of Chinese wines.

In the last decade, China has emerged as a serious wine-producing nation. What factors do you think have contributed most to this growth?

One of the principal factors is the fact that the wine industry in China has changed in that the type of companies that are producing wine have changed. 20 years ago, most people and companies making wine in China were large-scale industry while some of them were state-owned enterprises. With that, the focus wasn’t on quality, but on quantity.

Now, many of these Chinese wineries are family-run and/or run by people as passion projects, the owners are people who love wine and that’s really influenced the quality of wine.

How do Chinese winemakers balance tradition with innovation in crafting wines that appeal to both local and international consumers?

Innovation should take precedence over tradition as China has never been a traditional winemaking region. Therefore, Chinese winemakers have been seen to embrace innovation and we have seen an explosion of original creations in China. Some winemakers make natural wines, skin to contact orange kinds, sparkling wines, while others produce sweet wines and rosé wines.

This is great because we need more and more styles to appeal to both the local palate and international ones to cater to those who love wine and also to those who are new to it.

Are there particular grape varieties or winemaking techniques that you believe define China’s wine identity today?

It is far too soon to talk about defining Chinese wine identity. We are still in the process of discovering our regions, our soils and which grapes do well in China.

The future will be the brightest, but we don’t know it yet.

Which Chinese wine regions or producers do you see making the biggest impact internationally in the coming years?

To me, Ningxia will make the biggest impact internationally. Not only do they have the support of the local government, but many of the winemakers are wine lovers themselves. They want to see their wines taking a position on the global stage along with the other great wines of the world and they are driven by that.

What do you think it will take for Chinese wines to gain greater global recognition, and what challenges still remain?

The biggest challenge is the fact that there are not that many Chinese fine dining restaurants overseas, and are also still generally not of the caliber to have sommelier service. When there are more fine dining Chinese restaurants that promote Chinese wine pairings, Chinese wines can achieve greater success in the Western countries.

Chinese consumers’ wine preferences have evolved significantly. How do you see local demand shaping the future of Chinese winemaking?

We’ve already seen a change in local demand. In Shanghai, natural wines are very much in demand, especially among the new generation of consumers, and there are already groups of Chinese winemakers producing this type of wine.

Sustainability is a hot topic in global wine. Are Chinese wineries embracing sustainable and organic viticulture, and how is this influencing quality?

Sustainability is not organic viticulture – they are two different concepts. I would say that there are more Chinese wineries who are trying to go organic. It’s difficult to do in China due to the monsoon influence. With that said, I believe that there’s no correlation between organic winemaking and quality.

Sustainability is still not a big issue in the Chinese wine scene, so I don’t see many wineries involving themselves in this debate. Once again, sustainability is not related to quality.

Some Chinese wineries are now investing in overseas vineyards. How do you see this trend playing into China’s future wine narrative?

Many Chinese wineries have long invested in overseas vineyards. In fact, the primary investment in winemaking coming from China was first in overseas wineries rather than domestic ones. It took a while for people to believe in domestic wine production. I think that the investment in overseas vineyards puts a bit of pressure on China’s own wine production but at the same time it also brings benefits. For instance, it allows more foreign expertise to come into China because if you have a winery in China and one overseas, it’s easier to share winemakers and grape growing ideas. This can benefit China’s future wines.

What role do competitions like the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards play in educating both consumers and the trade about the quality and diversity of Chinese wines?

As mentioned previously, the awards bring people’s attention to what the best wines in China are, and it enables them to be able to become familiar with brands that achieve a good quality of wine. Wynn has also included most of the award-wining wine in their wine list. In other words, it just increases the knowledge of the high quality of Chinese wines.

If there was one misconception about Chinese wines you’d like to dispel, what would it be?

Misconceptions have yet to exist as not many people know about Chinese wines. If I am to say, one misconception is that if it’s from China, it might be a fake wine. However, it is a fact that Chinese wineries – especially the more family-run and quality-focused ones – produce beautiful wines, and they put in a lot more energy and attention into growing their grapes to produce the very best wines possible.