Mandarin for Wine Tasting: Terminology and a Pedagogical Application

China is fast becoming the world’s largest importer of wine and its vineyard surface area in 2016 was second only to that of Spain. Although high quality winemaking still faces certain challenges, consumers’ habits have also changed with more and more Chinese aware of the features and variety of this product. The diffusion and consumption of wine in China can further be seen as an occupational opportunity for learners of Chinese as a foreign language interested in the enological sector. The aim of this paper is to briefly present the features of China's viticulture, wine market and wine consumption as well as to provide the terminology for wine tasting in Chinese, with particular reference to the tasting standards established by the Italian Sommelier Association and the vocabulary related to the description of chromatic and olfactory wine varieties. The last part of the paper is focused on the didactic application and briefly proposes specific activities to be conducted in class to learn Chinese through wine tasting.