In the summer of 2008, I took a life-changing trip to the Olympic Games in Beijing. (I was only a spectator. Alas, drinking still isn't an Olympic sport.) While there, I met up with one of my favorite college professors, the esteemed Hoyt Purvis. News of his recent passing has caused me to spend much of the last week reflecting on college and those magical two weeks in China. And, of course, it has led me to take a deeper dive into the world of Chinese wine.

The past decade has seen China explode onto the world's wine scene, skyrocketing to 8th in overall wine production in 2018. The nation also ranks fifth in terms of wine consumption, and culturally, French wine is seen as the benchmark against which Chinese-made wines are judged.

When you think of Chinese food, white wines and rosés are the most apparent pairing choices, but surprisingly, cabernet sauvignon is by far the most planted grape. French grapes like merlot and carmenere are also popular, with their planting no doubt inspired by attempts to replicate the wines of Bordeaux, where all three grapes are key ingredients in the region's storied reds.

Like most of China's state-run economy, the government plays a major role in the wine industry, especially in helping to grow a few key brands. This government support has meant that you're likely to find the same bottles of wine on grocery store shelves across China. It has also meant that smaller, family-owned wineries have an even bigger challenge getting their wines into customers' hands. While the craft wine and beer scenes have taken America by storm, the craft wine industry in China is still in its infancy.

China's most famous wine region is found in the Shandong Province, just southeast of Beijing along the Pacific coast. The region produces more than 40% of the country's wine, and it's where China's first modern winery was founded in the early '80s. The region sits at the same latitude as Bordeaux and has a similar ocean-influenced climate.

However, the wine region I'm most excited about is Ningxia, on the edge of the Gobi desert, due south of Mongolia. The second-largest wine region in China, Ningxia is known to produce the country's most acclaimed wines. The handful of wines I've been able to try from this region have been exciting, vivid wines with a unique bell pepper-like quality. Though Chinese wines are rare here in America, I highly recommend trying one the next time you see it on the shelf.