FEBRUARY 2016 - AudioFile
The widening of global markets in recent years affects many areas, including the selling and buying of wine. Hillary Huber’s narration describes China’s involvement with this product—including the growth of vineyards, the challenges associated with counterfeit wines, and connections to Bordeaux. With well-enunciated diction, Huber talks about the obsession China has with Bordeaux wines. How the French and Chinese work together despite different cultures and laws is a particular focus of the book, which Huber narrates with careful and methodical pronunciation of Chinese and French words. For serious oenophiles. M.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
11/02/2015
Wine Spectator contributing editor Mustacich meticulously charts the evolution of the Chinese wine market and its relationship with one of France’s most famous regions, focusing on key players as well as the logistics of developing what would become an enormous market. As the market for Bordeaux wines began to collapse in the late 2000’s, vintners and château owners found unlikely saviors in China, where high-end wines were originally bought as investments and soon became symbols of wealth and taste. The Chinese palate eventually caught up with investors, as citizens and officials became more familiar with labels and varietals and began seeking out specific bottles, most of which were from Bordeaux. Fraudulent wines and even fake châteaux soon followed in an attempt to cash in on Bordeaux’s sudden popularity. Though some purveyors were fined and punished, others operated with impunity due to kickbacks to high-ranking officials, some of whom suffered spectacular falls from grace. This makes for a dramatic arc, and Mustacich does an admirable job of explaining the cultural quirks and byzantine classifications that play a part in the story, even if the book’s closing chapter feels a little rushed and unfinished. This is an interesting assessment of one of the wine industry’s largest markets. (Dec.)
From the Publisher
Winner of the André Simon Drink Book Award
Winner of the Louis Roederer International Wine Book of the Year Award
Named Among the Best Books of the Year in Financial Times
Named a Best Wine Book by The Wall Street Journal and San Jose Mercury News
"Delectable reading.”—The Wall Street Journal (The Best Books for Wine Lovers)
"Riveting....[Mustacich has] a deep understanding of the wildly differing but now heavily entwined cultures of Bordeaux and China."—Jancis Robinson, Financial Times
“As a wine correspondent in Bordeaux for the past decade, Mustacich has compiled an impressive amount of research on the product’s global flow, recording comments from both tight-lipped châteaux owners and Chinese businessmen.”—The New Republic
“Fascinating…. Mustacich's excellent narrative…depicts both the frenetic unpredictability of life in China and the befuddlement of the Bordelais as their clubby world is overrun by people whose language they do not speak and whose motivations the do not understand.”—The Street.com
"This is a major contribution to wine literature. I can’t think of any books since George M. Taber’s The Judgement of Paris (2006) and Elin McCoy’s The Emperor of Wine (2006) that have dealt with such a pivotal moment in wine in such a thorough and professional way. . . . This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how Bordeaux really works – and who wants to understand how China is changing the world of wine."—Meininger's Wine Business International
“You think you're Bordeaux obsessed? Nothing compares to China's unquenchable thirst for these storied French wines. Suzanne Mustacich delves into this lust with historical references and stories of the famous first growths, importers and collectors.”—San Jose Mercury News (5 Best Wine Reads)
"Suzanne is an experienced journalist and writer, and a great storyteller…Thirsty Dragon tells a story…of what happens when history, tradition, commerce, greed and politics merge, seen through the lives of a great cast of characters. Reading this book is like walking alongside the winemakers, market makers, politicians, investigators and salespeople as they live through one of the most amazing, and intense, changes in the balance of power in the world."—Thirst for Wine
“Mustacich's tale will hit a sweet spot. A well-researched look into yet another global market undergoing significant growth due to Chinese businesses and consumers.”—Kirkus Reviews
“I enjoyed reading Thirsty Dragon, or should I say, savoring it. It goes far beyond the typical tale of Bordeaux wine connoisseurship. It's a riveting roller coaster ride through the past decade of the West's relations with China, offering a front-row seat on China's relentless rise to economic power, while exposing a bitter residue of counterfeiting and corruption, all packaged in the form of an easy-to-drink glass of fine wine.” —William Echikson, author of Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Revolution
“China's fraught encounter with Bordeaux is usually depicted as a tale of mutual incomprehension, but Suzanne Mustacich reveals a more surprising story: In their appetites for risk, wealth, and prestige, the two sides have more in common than they ever imagined. For those who dream of fortune in China, this is a tale of business, hubris, and discovery.” —Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
“Thirsty Dragon is an intriguing, comprehensive, often suspenseful, and sometimes hilarious account of the unlikely courtship dance between Bordeaux and China. Suzanne Mustacich spares neither side as she unravels the history of this unholy alliance.” —Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City and Bacchus and Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar
“Thirsty Dragon is a fascinating look inside China through an unusual, and illuminating prism - wine. The story of China's growing appetite for wine and the storms of adventure, greed, corruption and folly that it unleashes are well-told in this book. I found myself learning more about China from this ground-up approach than from many books that look at the big picture. Worth reading, especially with a nice glass of wine at your side.” —Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World and The Future of Freedom
author of The Post-American World and The Future o Fareed Zakaria
Thirsty Dragon is a fascinating look inside China through an unusual, and illuminating prism - wine. The story of China's growing appetite for wine and the storms of adventure, greed, corruption and folly that it unleashes are well-told in this book. I found myself learning more about China from this ground-up approach than from many books that look at the big picture. Worth reading, especially with a nice glass of wine at your side.
FEBRUARY 2016 - AudioFile
The widening of global markets in recent years affects many areas, including the selling and buying of wine. Hillary Huber’s narration describes China’s involvement with this product—including the growth of vineyards, the challenges associated with counterfeit wines, and connections to Bordeaux. With well-enunciated diction, Huber talks about the obsession China has with Bordeaux wines. How the French and Chinese work together despite different cultures and laws is a particular focus of the book, which Huber narrates with careful and methodical pronunciation of Chinese and French words. For serious oenophiles. M.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-08-15
Wine Spectator contributing editor Mustacich offers an in-depth account of the cultural and business tensions related to China's growing desire for fine wines. The author knows the wine business well, and she holds an enology diploma from the University of Bordeaux. Mustacich begins with a brief historical framework regarding the significance of Bordeaux wines, citing one of George Washington's first requests as president for "150 bottles of 1785 Château Margaux." The author explores how the growing market for wines in Asia, first in Japan and later in China, created an upheaval in business and cultural norms. She details the prominent role of the wholesale wine merchant throughout history and the effects of the recent global financial crisis on their relationship with the wine-growing estates. Once wine wholesalers understood the potential created by the Chinese desire for fine wine, speculation took over, and money flooded into the Bordeaux region. With the wave of currency came the usual shenanigans accompanying commodity bubbles. Intent on building wine-centered tourism, Chinese businessmen began snapping up prestigious châteaux in order to entice their fellow countrymen to visit Bordeaux; smuggling and counterfeit wines became common practices. Mustacich shows how a homegrown wine culture began with the planting of vineyards, wine education classes, and wine contests such as the China Wine Challenge, held in Shanghai. The author's narrative scope is vast, and the number of different business entities and their transactions may be too much data for casual readers. However, the book is a good choice for readers seeking a business-oriented look at the intricacies of the wine business in a radically different cultural, political, and geographical milieu. For those with prior knowledge of how the wine world operates and looking for an educated commentary on China's rising influence on the growing, buying, and selling of Bordeaux wine, Mustacich's tale will hit a sweet spot. A well-researched look into yet another global market undergoing significant growth due to Chinese businesses and consumers.
