China: An emerging wine region and wine market

Liu Jing and her husband, Meng Yun, are enjoying something that neither of their parents ever did. The couple, both in their early 30s, are sharing a bottle of wine over a dinner of braised eel, boiled noodles with pork, and shrimp in a spicy sauce.

They are typical of millions of people in China who belong to the country’s rapidly growing middle class. Both earn enough from their white-collar jobs to enjoy luxuries such as drinking wine at home and at restaurants.

The Origin of Wine in China

Not that drinking wine in China is new. Archaeological findings can trace wine consumption to at least 4,500 years ago. Rice wine was one of the first beverages fermented in China. Then indigenous wild grapes growing on mountainsides started being used. Some researchers have put the number of wild grape species in the country as high as 50.

The popularity of wine diminished, but was revived during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD220) when European vitis vinif-era vines were introduced. Rice wine still predominated, though, with wines fermented from grapes mainly reserved for the tables of emperors. Wine drinking then became relatively common during the Tang Dynasty (AD618 – AD907).

Modern Winemaking in China

Modern wine production in China can be traced to 1892, when the Changyu Pioneer Wine Company was established in Yantai, a city in Shandong Province on China’s eastern coast. It initiated mass production techniques that led to the end of manual wine production.

Jump ahead to the early 1980s, when a few adventurous winemakers — tempted by the thought of reaching China’s population of 1.1 billion — began growing wine grapes in earnest. They wanted to learn if they could lure enough people away from beer, throat-searing maotai liquor and other traditional alcoholic beverages.

The challenge of finding suitable land was soon overcome with many Chinese provinces located along the same latitudes as the vineyards of France, Italy, Germany and other leading wine-producing areas.

The next hurdle was finding which grapes would produce wines to tempt palates not used to the subtleties and nuances appreciated by more-experienced wine lovers. As Zheng Xin, winemaker at the Qingdao Huadong Winery Company in Shandong explains, “Knowledge of wine in China is just beginning. Therefore, most popular are wines that are soft, with intense fruit.”

Wine Production in China

Today, there are approximately 500 wineries in the country, about 140 of which are located in Shandong, a peninsula lying between Beijing and Shanghai. Visitors to the region pass acres of vineyards, and see trucks laden with wooden crates of grapes heading to wineries. Cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay and riesling are now the predominant grapes planted in China.

Other provinces with smaller concentrations of vineyards include Hebei, near Beijing; Ningxia, where sandy soils produce wines best drunk young; Yunnan in south-central China, a rainy region with small vineyards tucked between mountains; and Xinjiang, where vines battle desert-like conditions to produce inexpensive wines.

Chinese Wine Drinkers

Today, most wine drinkers in China belong to one of two groups. Many of those new to the pleasure prefer wines that are lighter, somewhat sweeter and fruity; what one U.S. vintner with whom I shared a tasting termed “entry-level wines.” They often put a premium on price, purchasing inexpensive wines from regions such as Chile.

Members of the growing middle class and the more affluent opt for higher-end bottles, with a special preference for the wines of Bordeaux, and now Burgundy. The French connection is considered a definite status symbol in the modern China.

Reliable facts about wine in China, like all statistics in the Asian powerhouse, can be hard to find. Estimates for current annual grape production range from 200,000 to one million tons per year, with annual growth of as much as 20 percent. No matter what the exact figure, it seems certain that Liu Jing and Meng Yun — and a fast-growing number of other young middle-class Chinese — will have an increasing selection of varieties and vintages to choose from in the near future.

Major wine players in China

While not all are exporting to Canada, here’s a look at some of the most important Chinese wineries:

Early player Changyu Pioneer Wine Company is among the leading wineries in China; the wines are available in Canada.

Chateau Huadong Parry, established in 1985 by British entrepreneur Michael Parry, is another well-respected name.

Also available in Canada, Great Wall Wine Company, founded in 1983, has grown into one of the largest producers in the country.

Grace Vineyard is a family-owned enterprise in central China that has been producing some of the best wines in the country since its founding in 1997.

Silver Heights Estate turns out top-notch reds in an area of dry terrain by using melting snow for irrigation.