Chinese Vineyards(1)
By 2009-4-1 9:32:39
IT' not clear just how many vineyards have been planted in China,
but there are a lot. The area under vine is said to be increasing by
12% to 15% each year and China' wine production is substantial.
Imports of wine into China have risen too and are projected to
continue rising fast, despite the credit crisis ?maybe as much as
ten-fold over the next decade.
Chinese wine can be very good indeed, as I recently discovered on a
flight to Hong Kong. I was served a thoroughly enjoyable
Bordeaux-like wine from Grace Vineyards, set up by a Hong Kong
businessman in 1997.
However, many leading members of the Hong Kong wine trade stubbornly
persist in believing that Chinese wine is not as good as that
produced in the rest of the world.
Some of the Hong Kong trade'criticisms of Chinese wine may have some
validity. In particular, it's not acceptable that grapes can be
imported into China from a third country and then re-exported,
labelled as "hinese wine" One Aussie wine merchant suggested that
80% of some well-known Chinese brands were, in fact, Chilean and
even Simon Tam, perhaps the most influential Asian wine writer,
reckons that, "Ifevery now and then a Chinese wine tastes Chilean,
it' because it includes around 40% Chilean grapes"
Tam points out that not all the new vineyards are planted in the
best possible locations. 揗r Wong won't leave his farm where his
family has been for four generations just to go where the soil is
perfect for growing grapes. That's why the new vineyards have been
planted in unsuitable places where the soil is too fertile."
Kevin Tang, a Hong Kong wine educator, made the startling claim that
the planting of vines in the Chinese mainland is "just hearsay".
But Tam affirms that vineyards are real (and he should know ?he
spent several years going round the wineries trying to flog filters
to them). Not surprisingly, perhaps, the official line is also more
considered. Christopher Wong, Hong Kong's Deputy Secretary for
Commerce and Economic Development, assured me that winemakers on the
Chinese mainland will "develop their own styles of wine to meet
Asian needs".
He also welcomed the decision by the International Wine Challenge to
devote an award to the best Chinese wine at a special competition to
be held in Hong Kong in November. He would prefer to see the Hong
Kong trade take a more positive attitude to Chinese wine and to work
with Chinese wine producers. "We can't teach China how to make
wine," he admitted, "but we can teach them how to market it."
He also told me that some of the biggest investors in Chinese
viticulture, including Remy Martin, which has a major interest in
the Dynasty brand, are interested in developing the exciting
potential of native Chinese grape varieties.
At the moment, many of the Chinese wines on sale here are made from
familiar European varieties. But I find it hard to believe another
Hong Kong merchant who asserted that "the labelling is really
suspect ?they call every red Cabernet Sauvignon, whatever goes into
the bottle".
but there are a lot. The area under vine is said to be increasing by
12% to 15% each year and China' wine production is substantial.
Imports of wine into China have risen too and are projected to
continue rising fast, despite the credit crisis ?maybe as much as
ten-fold over the next decade.
Chinese wine can be very good indeed, as I recently discovered on a
flight to Hong Kong. I was served a thoroughly enjoyable
Bordeaux-like wine from Grace Vineyards, set up by a Hong Kong
businessman in 1997.
However, many leading members of the Hong Kong wine trade stubbornly
persist in believing that Chinese wine is not as good as that
produced in the rest of the world.
Some of the Hong Kong trade'criticisms of Chinese wine may have some
validity. In particular, it's not acceptable that grapes can be
imported into China from a third country and then re-exported,
labelled as "hinese wine" One Aussie wine merchant suggested that
80% of some well-known Chinese brands were, in fact, Chilean and
even Simon Tam, perhaps the most influential Asian wine writer,
reckons that, "Ifevery now and then a Chinese wine tastes Chilean,
it' because it includes around 40% Chilean grapes"
Tam points out that not all the new vineyards are planted in the
best possible locations. 揗r Wong won't leave his farm where his
family has been for four generations just to go where the soil is
perfect for growing grapes. That's why the new vineyards have been
planted in unsuitable places where the soil is too fertile."
Kevin Tang, a Hong Kong wine educator, made the startling claim that
the planting of vines in the Chinese mainland is "just hearsay".
But Tam affirms that vineyards are real (and he should know ?he
spent several years going round the wineries trying to flog filters
to them). Not surprisingly, perhaps, the official line is also more
considered. Christopher Wong, Hong Kong's Deputy Secretary for
Commerce and Economic Development, assured me that winemakers on the
Chinese mainland will "develop their own styles of wine to meet
Asian needs".
He also welcomed the decision by the International Wine Challenge to
devote an award to the best Chinese wine at a special competition to
be held in Hong Kong in November. He would prefer to see the Hong
Kong trade take a more positive attitude to Chinese wine and to work
with Chinese wine producers. "We can't teach China how to make
wine," he admitted, "but we can teach them how to market it."
He also told me that some of the biggest investors in Chinese
viticulture, including Remy Martin, which has a major interest in
the Dynasty brand, are interested in developing the exciting
potential of native Chinese grape varieties.
At the moment, many of the Chinese wines on sale here are made from
familiar European varieties. But I find it hard to believe another
Hong Kong merchant who asserted that "the labelling is really
suspect ?they call every red Cabernet Sauvignon, whatever goes into
the bottle".
From journallive.co.uk