A video about an excellent lunch at this year’s Vinexpo where Château Brown and Château Lafon-Roche paired their Bordeaux reds with Cantonese food is now available on YouTube. The event was a fascinating experience for somone like me who has had relatively little exposure to this kind of food pairing. Here is a link to the video.

Château Brown, in the heart of the Pessac Léognan appellation, recently created a Chinese name for its wine to bond further with this expanding market. The Chinese name is “hu po jiu zhuang” and it refers to a precious amber stone plus a tiger that chases away evil spirits.

Château Brown has belonged to the Mau and Dirkzwager families since the end of 2004. They are also co-owners of Château Preuillac, a cru bourgeois estate in the Médoc. Jean-Christophe Mau, the owner of Château Brown, is considered one of the most dynamic people in Bordeaux. His family has been in the wine business in Bordeaux for five centuries.

Said Jean-Christophe Mau: “As the name we have created in Chinese suggests, at Château Brown we work our wines [the way] a jeweller would carve and polish his gemstones. Meticulous attention is paid to the vines and to nature, wine making techniques are of haute couture standard and hard work is required all year round to produce a wine worthy of grand cru status.”

The château owes its name to a rich Scottish wine trader, John Lewis Brown, its owner in the 19th century and an art lover famous for the grand receptions he gave. Château Brown wines are distributed throughout the world, including China.