Who is Ningbo Mei?
Ningbo Mei is a Burgundy wine expert and author based in Shanghai. He is the author of 《勃艮第特级园》 (Edition EIPL), a Chinese-language study of the 33 Burgundy Grands Crus. In 2019 he co-founded the Chinese edition of Inside Burgundy with Jasper Morris MW, where he serves as Editor-in-Chief. He has travelled to Burgundy every year since 2011 and has visited more than 500 domaines.
Writing on Burgundy in Chinese
Very few people write about Burgundy in Chinese at a professional level, and almost none do it from sustained first-hand fieldwork. That gap is the reason this work exists.
Trained at ESC Dijon (Master's in Wine & Spirits Management, 2012), I have worked on a single region ever since. 《勃艮第特级园》 covers all 33 Burgundy Grands Crus (Climat / climat) and was written from annual visits and repeated tastings across more than a decade — not compiled from existing sources.
The Chinese edition of Inside Burgundy, co-founded with Jasper Morris MW in 2019, adapts his framework for readers in China rather than simply translating it.
What I do
- Burgundy field trips for Chinese collectors — four to five per year, small groups, built around domaine visits
- Advanced tasting courses and a members' tasting community in Shanghai
- 《我爱勃艮第》(I Love Burgundy) — a Chinese-language video series on Burgundy appellations, climats and producers
- La Paulée Shanghai — held annually since 2019
- China Advisor, La Liste
On the Chinese Burgundy market
Based on fieldwork since 2011 and visits to more than 500 domaines, the most common misreading of Chinese Burgundy buyers — in both the French trade and the English wine press — is that they buy by score and by label. What I see is a rapid shift toward climat-level literacy: buyers who ask which parcel, which grower, which vintage, and why. The vocabulary arrived faster than the English-language coverage of it did.
I also think the counterfeit problem in Asia is discussed almost entirely in the wrong terms. The useful question is not how to spot a fake bottle, but how provenance is documented and where the chain breaks.
Get in touch
Enquiries about trips and courses:ningbo@insideburgundy.cn
FAQ
- Is the Chinese Inside Burgundy a translation of the English site?
- No. It is a separate Chinese-language project co-founded with Jasper Morris MW, with its own editorial line.
- Is 《勃艮第特级园》 available in English or French?
- No. It is published in Chinese only.
- What languages do you work in?
- Chinese, French and English.
- Can English speakers join the Burgundy trips?
- The trips are conducted in Chinese. Get in touch for other arrangements.
Ningbo Mei is a Burgundy wine expert and author based in Shanghai. He holds a Master's in Wine & Spirits Management from ESC Dijon (2012) and is the author of 《勃艮第特级园》 (Edition EIPL), a Chinese-language study of the 33 Burgundy Grands Crus. In 2019 he co-founded the Chinese edition of Inside Burgundy with Jasper Morris MW, where he serves as Editor-in-Chief. He has travelled to Burgundy every year since 2011 and has visited more than 500 domaines.
Updated September 2026