Grape Wine’s History and Rise in the Middle Kingdom

Grape Wine’s History and Rise in the Middle Kingdom
Oct 27, 2010 By Jamie Caldwell , eChinacities.com

 

Ask any wine connoisseur about the Bordeaux region of France and they’ll wax lyrical about terroir, but ask the same oenophile about the Shanxi region of China, and they’ll stare blankly. In the past, China’s reputation as a wine producer has been swill, but the country is quickly rising in standing in the eyes of the international wine community.

Despite the lack of respect the Middle Kingdom’s wine industry receives, the Chinese have been making wine for thousands of years. The discovery of pottery jars in Jiahu, Hunan Province in 2004 revealed that wild grapes were fermented along with honey, fruits and rice to create a libation back in 7000 B.C. The method of production – using mold to break down the ingredients – was used up until the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties 3,000 years ago, but quietly died out after rice based wines became increasingly popular. Grape wine came back in vogue briefly after Central Asian wine-making techniques were brought to the emperor’s attention, but it wasn’t until the late 19th century that grape wine finally started being grown in large quantities in China.

In 1892, an overseas Chinese diplomat returned home with a penchant for wine and decided to import 500,000 vines so he could enjoy the drink he had grown so fond in his home country. The company, Changyu Wine, was founded in the coastal city of Yantai in Shandong province and still exists today as the 10th largest winery in the world. 

These types of large state-owned companies dominate the current wine market in China with over 90 percent of market share. Changyu is joined by Great Wall and Dynasty as the biggest of the companies, and their tendency to prioritize quantity over quality have propagated that unfortunate international reputation of Chinese wines. This wine is cheaply produced, resulting in a bouquet that can be shocking to drinkers. Often, a splash of soft drinks is added to the wine to make it palatable. But with the increase in imports since Reform & Opening, there are better wines on the table.

Since 1980, wines from France and around the world have been imported to China, and winemakers from Europe brought their skill set to the country, educating Chinese winemakers about the craft, but the overall quality of wine in the country rarely reflects these attempts at improvement. Many factors are to blame, from hiring unskilled workers to using unripe or poor quality grapes to blending product with imported bulk wines, but one thing is for certain - the practice of adding flavored sodas to wines has endured.

Not all Chinese wines are characterized by poor quality and unimaginative harvesting. Over the past ten years, a handful of vineyards fermenting fine wines have started to emerge. Generally small wineries that are predominately family-owned, these growers are making a name for themselves, not just in China, but around the world. Grace Vineyard was one of the first small vineyards to prove that China could produce quality wines that rivaled the finest France has to offer. Founded in 1997 in Shanxi province, the joint venture was the brainchild of a Frenchman and a Hong Kong billionaire. Just 13 years later, ask any sommelier in town for the best wine produced in China and nine times out of 10, he’ll name a Grace Vineyards vino.


Grace Vineyard in Shanxi  

Silver Heights is another example of homegrown vino made good in China. After receiving her Diplôme National d'Oenologue from Bordeaux, Emma Gao returned to China to produce her own wine. The 33-year-old’s bottles are causing quite a stir, already landing on the wine menus of Aman’s five star resorts in China and receiving praise from around the world.

Grace Vineyards and Silver Heights are the exception to the rule in China, where quantity definitely takes precedence, at least for now. The country’s wine industry ranks as the sixth largest producer and fifth largest consumer of wine globally, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. Production has increased by a minimum of 10 percent per year (and sometimes up to 15) for almost two decades. The growing output from China doesn’t appear to be slowing any time soon; in fact, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant, published the results of their 2008 study that predicted China would be the world’s largest producer of wine by volume in 50 years. The Future of Wine Report went on to say that the country would have over 4,000 vineyards (compared to today’s nearly 500) and produce fine wine that will “rival the best of Bordeaux”. Only time will tell if this prediction can come true, but China’s wine industry has nowhere to go but up.
 

Related links
Grape Expectations: The Rising Popularity of Wine in China
Li Wine: The Beer of Ancient China
Sticker Shock: Brands You Didn’t Know Were Chinese

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Keywords: wine development China grape wine China Wine history China

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