Mandarin Monday: Essential Words for Wine Lovers

Katie Coy, Managing Editor | Nov 24, 2025 4:30 pm | Add a comment | 26 reads

Mandarin Monday is a regular series where we help you improve your Chinese by detailing fun and practical phrases and characters.

Following on from last week's post, where we took a look at some must-know beer vocabulary, this time we're turning our attention to wine. These wine terms will help you decipher any Chinese wine menu, plus you can impress your Chinese friends with your knowledge!

Basic Wine Words

First things first, here are some of the basic types of wine in Chinese:

  • Wine: 葡萄酒 pútáojiǔ
  • Red wine: 红酒 hóngjiǔ
  • White wine: 白葡萄酒 báipútáojiǔ 
  • Rosé: 桃红葡萄酒 táohóng pútáojiǔ (sometimes it can also be translated as 玫瑰酒 méiguī jiǔ or 粉红酒 fěnhóng jiǔ)
  • Dessert wine / Sweet wine: 甜酒 tiánjiǔ
  • Sparkling wine: 起泡酒 qǐpàojiǔ

More Specific Wine Types

Next, let's move onto more specific types of wine:

  • Merlot: 梅洛 Méiluò
  • Cabernet Sauvignon: 赤霞珠 Chìxiázhū
  • Pinot Noir: 黑皮诺 Hēipínuò
  • Syrah/Shiraz: 西拉 Xīlā
  • Malbec: 马尔贝克 Mǎ’ěrbèikè
  • Sangiovese: 桑娇维塞 Sāngjiāowéisāi
  • Sauvignon Blanc: 长相思 Chángxiāngsī
  • Chardonnay: 霞多丽 Xiāduōlì
  • Riesling: 雷司令 Léisīlìng
  • Prosecco: 普罗塞克 Pǔluósàikè
  • Champagne: 香槟 Xiāngbīn
  • Pinot Gris/Grigio: 灰皮诺 Huīpínuò

Wine Regions

Here are a few of the most common wine regions in Chinese:

  • Bordeaux: 波尔多 Bō'ěrduō
  • Burgundy: 勃艮第 Bógèndì
  • Napa Valley: 纳帕谷 Nàpàgǔ
  • Tuscany: 托斯卡纳 Tuōsīkǎnà
  • Rioja: 里奥哈 Lǐ'àohā
  • Barossa Valley: 巴罗萨谷 Bāluósàgǔ

Wine Tasting Terms

Lastly, if you really want to impress your friends with your wine knowledge, here are a few key wine tasting terms in Chinese: 

  • Aroma/bouquet: 酒香 (气) jiǔxiāng(qì)
  • Body: 酒体 jiǔtǐ
  • Finish: 余味 yúwèi
  • Tannins: 单宁 dānníng
  • Acidity: 酸度 suāndù
  • Dry: 干 gān
  • Sweet: 甜 tián

READ: Mandarin Monday: All About Beer in Chinese

Images: Unsplash