Spirit style
Chinese Brandy
白兰地báilándì
China's oldest Western-style spirit, with an international medal from 1915
- Category
- Grape brandy
- Signature producer
- Changyu
- Home region
- Shandong (Yantai) and other wine regions
- Since
- 1914
- Literal meaning
- A phonetic translation of 'brandy'
Taste profile
Sweetness
DrySweetSweetness: 3 out of 5Intensity
DelicateIntenseIntensity: 3 out of 5Body
LightFullBody: 4 out of 5Finish
ShortLongFinish: 3 out of 5
Aromas
- dried fruit
- vanilla
- caramel
- oak
Brandy is the oldest Western-style spirit made in China. It arrived with the country's first modern winery, Changyu, founded in Yantai, Shandong, in 1892. In 1915, at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, Changyu's Koya brandy won a Grand Prize, the first international award for a Chinese wine or spirit producer.
Brandy is distilled from wine and aged in oak. In China it grew alongside the grape wine industry, and the Changyu name remains closely associated with it more than a century later.
Its Chinese name, 白兰地, is a phonetic transcription of the English word 'brandy'.
How it is graded
Chinese brandy uses the same letters as Cognac, VS, VO, VSOP and XO, but with its own national rules. Under the Chinese standard, an XO needs at least six years in oak, while a Cognac XO now needs at least ten. The 2023 update also introduced Chinese names for each grade and an XXO level.
How it tastes
Like other grape brandies: dried fruit, vanilla and spice from the oak, with more sweetness and roundness in younger styles. Older brandies are smoother and more complex.
Where it is made
Changyu, in Yantai, remains the historic name, but brandy is also distilled in other grape regions, including Xinjiang and Ningxia. Most Chinese brandy is drunk in China, often at banquets.
How to taste it
Serve it neat at room temperature in a small tulip glass, after dinner. Or use it in a classic brandy cocktail such as a Sidecar.
Producers
How to serve
Neat at room temperature in a tulip glass, or in cocktails.
Food pairings
- After dinner with nuts, dried fruit or dark chocolate.
Sources
- Cheong Fatt Tze, the Blue Mansion celebrates its founder's winemaking legacy — Robb Report Malaysia
- Ten years on: Chinese wine's breakthrough moment at DWWA — Decanter, 2021