Essence of napa

California wineries are getting more serious about the Chinese market. Dong Fangyu samples some of the New World's best tipples at a recent Beijing seminar and wine-tasting

It was a decision that shook the wine industry: a panel of judges in Paris declaring in effect that France's wines were not the world leaders they were cracked up to be.

In fact, several of the country's finest wines had been eclipsed by unheralded drops from California's upstart wine industry, including two from Napa Valley, 120 kilometers north of San Francisco.