China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Pick of the crop
A new wave of premium wine producers from across China are rising to the fore as the market demands more quality. Jim Boyce picks his favorite five from the crop.
Top domestic wines have been making their mark
Sometimes it’s difficult to translate success into sales. Take the new wave of quality-focused wineries across China. They have earned a cellar full of trophies, medals and accolades at home and abroad over the past half-dozen years — but making that achievement profitable is proving more difficult.
For one thing, many consumers associate local wines with a few big brands that have placed marketing over quality. For another, these consumers have access to a sea of inexpensive easy-to-buy imports. On top of that, the best local wines tend to be pricey and hard to find.
While this situation is far from inspiring, the good news is that an increasing number of tasty local wines are finding their way into consumers’ glasses. Here are five wineries that have national distribution network, and are regularly listed by sites like JD and Taobao, and top restaurants, bars and hotels — with their typical retail prices attached.
Grace Vineyard, an oasis in rural Shanxi province, is widely deemed the wine industry’s success story of the century. China has seen many “one-hit wonder” wineries but CEO Judy Chan has made Grace a symbol of consistency and freshness for the past 15 years. While the general wine industry tends to concentrate on cabernet sauvignon, Grace also uses grapes like marselan and aglianico. And while many premium producers price their wines at 250 yuan ($39) or more, Grace has several entry-level options from 70 yuan.
The most intriguing Grace wines are from the Tasya Reserve series, including the full-bodied and supple cabernet franc and elegant marselan (both 190 yuan). Also impressive are Grace’s four sparkling wines (from 158 yuan), including the sparkling Angelina 2009 Brut Reserve (288 yuan), named after Chan’s daughter. It was so good, in fact, it wowed visitors from France’s most venerated wine region, Champagne. Grace’s national distribution partner is ASC Fine Wines.
In contrast to the isolation of Grace in Shanxi, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region has a concentration of many good wineries, particularly in the foothills of the Helan Mountain range. Ningxia is now widely deemed the nation’s top wine region and attracts a steady flow of critics, consultants and winemakers from around the world.
Among the best wineries is Kanaan, run by Wang Fang, who likes to call herself “Crazy Fang”. Wang returned to Ningxia in 2011 after spending a decade in Germany, where she fell in love with riesling, which led her to focus on this grape variety in China. While her riesling (150 yuan) and semisweet white wines (both 150 yuan) are worthy tipples, the real winner is the Pretty Pony cabernet merlot (295 yuan). This red blend gives your taste buds a ripe, juicy, fruity ride and is agreeable to both newcomers and wine aficionados alike. Kanaan is partnered with Summergate/Pudao Wines.
Silver Heights is another must-try producer from Ningxia. It helped put the region on the world wine map with its first vintage, in 2007, by Bordeaux-trained Emma Gao. She made it in a shed on the outskirts of the regional capital of Yinchuan. Silver Heights has since gone from that three-person operation to a much larger winery near the Helan Mountains, which is now experimenting with grape varieties like pinot noir and petite verdot.
In contrast to the fruity accessibility of Pretty Pony, Silver Heights Family Reserve cabernet blend (308 yuan) is a “moodier” wine. It’s the kind you decant for an hour and then slowly enjoy. A cheaper entry point are the red and white blends in The Last Warrior series (142 yuan). Silver Heights partners with Torres China for its distribution.
Another Ningxia pick is Chandon China. Moet Chandon not only ranks among the top sparkling wine producers, but also makes bubbly in six countries besides its home base of France. The China operation released its first commercial wines in 2014 to much fanfare. These sparkling wines are delicious and far cheaper than expected: just 168 yuan for a wine made using the Champagne method. Their initial offerings include a brut and a rose, with a sweeter wine called Chandon Me since added, and are a go-to pick for restaurants and wine bars that offer quality China labels.
Finally, in China’s far west, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has a long history of wine and operations such as Tiansai Vineyards are helping bring out the region’s full potential. They say great wine is made in the vineyard, by growing great grapes, but this is exactly where many Chinese producers place the least focus. Shiny new equipment and fancy barrel-filled cellars often hold more appeal.
But under the guidance of owner Chen Lizhong, Tiansai has invested the time and money into designing vineyards that give winemaker Lilian Carter from Australia worthwhile fruit with which to work. The wines are sold under the name Skyline: try their chardonnays (from 170 yuan) and, if you are a red wine fan, the syrah and marselan.
And these five excellent wineries are just for starters. There are plenty beyond that, from Helan Qing Xue and Legacy Peak in Ningxia, Hansen in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Chateau Nine Peaks in Shandong province to Ao Yun, another LVMH project, in Yunnan province. And as the market demands more quality, and people start to realize the quality available at home, we can expect this wave of wineries to grow from strength to strength.