Wine pioneer Changyu has storied history, bright future(1)
Changyu's cellars feature oak barrels that have witnessed the company's more than
100 years of development. Ju Chuanjiang / China Daily
When Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Zhang Bishi, an overseas Chinese from Indonesia, founded China's first winery, Changyu Pioneer Wine Co, in 1892, there was no way he could have dreamed that it would grow into one of the world's top vintners 120 years later.
Today, Changyu, based in Yantai, Shandong province, is China's answer to France's world-renowned Bordeaux winemaking region.
The company has developed 20,000 hectares of vineyards, accounting for one-quarter of China's grape-planting regions, and it operates 10 world-class chateaus throughout the globe.
Thanks to their quality, its products have become a common sight at state banquets, global summit meetings and also on store shelves internationally.
"Some 120 years ago we introduced grapes and winemaking techniques from overseas, but now we have developed our own viticulture to produce high-quality wines that can contend in the fiercely competitive international market," said ZhouHongjiang, general manager of the company.
Changyu's growth
Zhou said Changyu's tradition goes way back to when Zhang Bishi founded China's first chateau in Yantai by introducing winemaking equipment and more than 120 types of grapes from Europe.
An 80-hectare vineyard was built on the mountains that sprawl along the city's coastal areas and lie on a latitude similar to that of Bordeaux and Italy's Tuscany. It has long been regarded as the best place in China for growing quality grapes, with adequate rain, abundant sunshine, a favorable soil type and the right humidity.
A 1,976-square-meter underground wine cellar was also built, equipped with 430 oak barrels imported from Italy and Austria to better mature the wines and give them a special aroma.
Established during the Self-Strengthening Movement period (1861-1895), in which Chinese learned advanced military and industrial technologies from the West, the company was granted many favorable policies from the very beginning.
It gained license and exemption from duty for three years from Li Hongzhang, a leading statesman of the late Qing Dynasty and a proponent of the movement.
To ensure the quality of Changyu's wine, Zhang once employed lots of professional winemakers from countries with long histories of making wines, including Italy, Austria and France.
The first one of them is Baron M. VonBabo, a seasoned winemaker from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918), who helped Changyu develop 15 types of fine wines. He was appointed as Austro-Hungarian deputy-consul in Yantai and moved the consulate into the company. After that, Changyu's wine won the hearts of foreign diplomats and business leaders.
In 1915, Changyu wines won four gold medals and quality certificates at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California. This was the first time for a Chinese product to win an international exhibition award and made Changyu a globally known brand.
With a production history of more than 70 years, Changyu Jiebaina was rated as one of the world's top 30 wine brands in 2008 Salon International de l'Alimentation (SIAL) held in France.
Since 2005, the Changyu Jiebaina has been exported to some 28 countries across the world, including Germany, Italy and France. Now, it is available in more than 3,000 supermarkets, shops, five-star hotels in Europe, and even the first-class cabins of German Lufthansa Airlines.
Ranked 22nd, Changyu was the only Chinese wine to make the list of the World's Top 50 Brands for Spirits and Wine compiled by Brand Finance in 2011, a leading brand evaluation consultancy.
Now, thanks to Changyu, the coastal city of Yantai is the only Asian city to be recognized as an "International Grape and Wine City" status by the International Vine and Wine Office (OIV).
The city is home to more than 130 world-renown winemakers, with combined wine production accounting for one-third of the nation's total.
