Any list of the world’s most recent intriguing wine stories should include the rise of quality producers in China. If you’d said ‘Ningxia’ a few year ago, for example, you’d have received blank stares. Now? The region’s quick growth and reasonably good wine means many trade people have actually been there. But if positive media coverage, contest results and reviews are bringing quality Chinese wines into view, it is important to note these represent a few cases out of the barrel of production. And that many wineries getting kudos tend to produce in small amounts, often under 20,000 bottles, at prices that can go beyond $80.00 a bottle, using grapes from vineyards with issues; some red blends exist not because of winemaker choice, but because multiple grape varieties might be found in a single row.
But some wineries seek to push Chinese wine forward by making larger volumes at better prices with grapes from vineyards where they control quality. Here are three such cases.
Great River Hill
The east coast province of Shandong is the traditional wine centre of China, but it puts out a great deal of uninspiring product. The reasons range from the monsoon climate to the propensity to pick early to consumers who have long valued brand over taste. When it comes to ‘Chinese’ wines, there is also the longstanding practice by some operations of using Shandong’s handy ports to import bulk wine for blending.
One winery showing the province’s potential is Great River Hill, backed by Karl-Heinz Hauptmann, whose projects include Bessa Valley in Bulgaria and Alira in Romania. While most Shandong wineries are found in coastal Yantai and Penglai, his is 100 kilometres inland in relatively lonely confines near the city of Laixi. The first vines for the 150-ha project were planted in 2008 on rocky hilltops first dynamited and covered with soil. The result is double protection from monsoons, both by being inland and by having excellent runoff, crucial in an area where chief wine consultant Marc Dworkin says there was 500 millilitres of rain last June alone.
The traditional problem of buying grapes from farmers whose small-scale operations focus on quantity, not quality, is not an issue here. Nearly 8% of the 100 ha destined for vines is already planted, split 90% red (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% each Merlot and Petite Sirah, 5% each Cabernet Gernischt and Syrah) and 10% Chardonnay. And by leaving harvest until well after many others have picked, Great River Hill is getting a ripeness in its young wines that create envy. Getting to this point has not been easy, with challenges that include six months of bureaucratic tape to import root stock, the theft of grapes, posts and even vineyard pets (the suspects are neighbours), and the challenge of setting up sales and distribution in a market that’s still getting used to the idea of good Chinese wine.
But Great River Hill has succeeded in a trio of ways – the ‘Three As’ – that help make it part of a new wave. First, the wine is appetizing, the Cabernet displaying a surprising fruitiness and fullness for its age, and receiving praise and awards from the likes of Jancis Robinson MW, La Revue du Vin de France and the China Wines and Spirits Awards. Second, it is affordable, at least by the standards of quality Chinese wines, with retail prices from rmb150 ($24.50).
Third, it is accessible, with Great River Hill taking responsibility for sales in its home province and handing over national distribution duties to East Meets West Fine Wines. Bottles are showing up in restaurant, hotel and retail portfolios, including in Hong Kong, where good Chinese wines are rare.
Wang Zhong
Three thousand kilometres away, at the opposite end of China, Xinjiang winery Wang Zhong shares a similar focus on quality in the vineyard. Few expenses have been spared at this operation established by business people Chen Lizhong (transporation) and Wang Xiaowei (furniture) in 2009 and said to cost $30m.
A key figure in the project has been technical director Li Demei, known for his time at award-winning winery Helan Qing Xue in Ningxia and Sino-French Demonstration Vineyard outside Beijing. As with Great River Hill, care has been taken to get the vineyard right in terms of grape variety selection, row placement and mechanisation considerations – labour can be scare here – at this 300-ha operation. Lilian Carter, in charge of the 500-ton- capacity winery, brings China experience from her 2008 stint at Pernod Ricard’s Domaine Helan Mountain in Ningxia. So far, Wangzhong has released two vintages, under the label Skyline of Gobi (‘Tiansai’ in Chinese).
Wang Zhong has yet to get national distribution -- a deal appears close with one of China’s leading hotel chains – but is already hitting the bullseye in terms of quality, including in the vineyard. And it hopes to incorporate wine into lifestyle via its restaurant, guest rooms, event centre and horse-riding facilities.
Grace Vineyard
Between Great River Hill and Wang Zhong lies veteran winery Grace Vineyard, in Shanxi province. Established in 1999, Grace gained a reputation for quality over a decade ago. No one has come close to Grace’s consistent record of producing a dozen kinds of decent wine that start at a wallet-friendly rmb60 ($9.80) and are found throughout China via self-branded stores and a partnership with Torres China and its Everwines retail shop chain.
Under the leadership of CEO Judy Chan, the winery doesn’t rest on its laurels. In an industry that draws criticism for a devotion to all things Cabernet, Grace – under the watchful eye of chief consultant Ken Murchison and technical director Lee Yean Yean – is experimenting with rare grapes, such as Aglianico and Marselan. It also bucked the red wine trend a few years ago when Mireia Torres visited and made a Muscat. And it has taken on the often-ignored bubbly segment by getting three sparkling wines into production – a Chardonnay, a Chenin Blanc and a Cabernet Franc.
The innovation goes beyond wine. Some of these products are small production, including a Cabernet-Marselan blend called Sonata; Grace has created a Napa Valley-style mailing list to satisfy its keenest customers. It experiments with screwcaps in a market devoted to cork, continually tests out new barrel suppliers, and realised its vineyard limitations and acquired two plots in the Ningxia region. Not to be ignored is that Grace leverages media coverage both at home and abroad like no other operation. What is most impressive about this situation is that Grace also steadily continues to do what it has done for over a decade -- and what others have yet to accomplish -- produce a line of affordable and easy-to-find wines.
Grace, Great River Hill and Wang Zhong are not the only wineries leading the China wine scene forward, but they certainly rank among the key leaders. What is arguably most inspiring is that they are found across the country and suggest that pursuit of quality can happen most anywhere.
