New report predicts boom in China wine producers

It's the crystal ball of all things wine, the Future of Wine report by London based merchants, Berry Brothers and Rudd. Their prediction? That China's wine producers will lead the world by 2058, rivallling the best of Bordeaux.

Presenter: Bo Hill
Speakers: Marc Curtis, founder China Wine Tours; Steve Clarke, president, China Silk Imports.

HILL: Champagne, Bordeaux, Napa Valley, the Rhine, the Barossa Valley - the names of old and new world wine regions slide over the tongue as easily as, well, a good red. But what about Shanxi?

CURTIS: In Shanxi province is what's considered to be the best wine in China right now is Grace Vineyards and they've become the house wine in such hotels as the Peninsula, and some other very high end hotels, they're so good."

HILL: Marc Curtis is the founder of China Wine Tours, based in California. He says the likes of Grace Vineyards in Shanxi, Chauteau Bolongbao from Hebei and Treaty Port from the city of Yantai, are the vanguard of Chinese wines that are set to take the world by storm.

CURTIS: I had started going to China about two years ago and on my third trip there was touring the Xinjiang region, the far northwestern province and they showed us this amazing grape-growing region so I asked the guide 'Do you have wineries?' and they said 'well, yes'. I began research about wine production in China to find out if they really had anything interesting.

I came to find out they have a 2000-year history of making wine, but it's really the last 10 years that they've suddenly discovered that, you know, the world wants good wine and you know the Chinese - if it can be done, they'll do it, they'll do it cheaper and better.

HILL: It's a growing industry that according to London wine merchants Berry Bros and Rudd will see China become the number one wine producing country within 50 years. But it's not just quantity that will come out of China. The Berry report says China's fine wine will rival the best wines of France, but first it needs the expertise. American Steve Clarke, the president of China Silk Imports says his vineyard, in China's northwest, already has that expertise.

CLARKE: We have a state-of-the-art winery that I'll put up against anybodys in the world. We have state-of-the-art wine-making equipment, and we have state of the art winemakers Kendall Jackson winemaker, Lindemans and the head winemaker at the winery who manages it who was trained and raised in France. So I would contend that at this point in time we have what we need to compete in the world.

HILL: The grapes for China Silk Wines grow in the shadow of the Tian Shan mountain range, the perfect climate and soil for winemaking says Steve Clarke. The company has been in Xinjiang for nearly four years and has already won awards in the US.

It's about to launch domestically, to capitalise on a local Chinese consumer market where an interest in wine is growing rapidly. The Chinese government helped with set up costs and 10,000 hectares of land, and China Silk Wines is now exporting to 14 American states. But, says Mr Clarke, it took a little convincing.

CLARKE: There have definitely been perceptions that were negative. I can tell you I walked into one liquor store, the largest in San Francisco, and the owner when he saw the wines after keeping me waiting two hours behind other people, looked at me and said, nodded 'No' and said "China'.

And I said 'Do me a favour just try them then I'll give you my spiel'. And he tried them and before I said a word he put his hand across the counter and said 'Congratulations dude, you have winners here.