China copied to L4.3 WoW Flashcards
How long as China been making wine?
For over 1,000 years, only since late 20th century has western style wine been produced.
Huge potential and rapid expansion
How much wine is produced in China?
More than 300,000 tons of grapes grown each year
How much of Chinese wine is exported?
Only 1.1% the local market consumes the rest
What are the four big wine brands in China?
Changyu
Great Wall
Dynasty
Great Dragon
How much of the wine market do the top four brands make up in China?
Up to 60%
What has been reduced in China?
The high tax on imported wines, now zero in Hong Kong
What has been the impact of the high tax on imported wines being reduced in China? Now zero in Hong Kong?
Opening up to international markets
What percentage of total alcohol consumption does wine account for in China?
Only 1%
What is causing rapid market growth for wine in China?
Wealth and awareness of Western Culture particularly in big cities
Which Chinese wine is one of the top five global best selling expressions?
China’s Changyu Noble Dragon made using Cabernet Gernischt grape
What is the first dry red wine brand that is popular with both Chinese and foreign consumers?
Changyu Noble Dragon
It is sold in more than 5,000 stores in Europe including Sainsbury’s in the UK, Schneekloth wines stores in Germany, Soysuper in Spain, Delta Club in Russia and Rutishauser Barossa in Switzerland
What is China’s largest wine brand?
Noble Dragon, it was launched in 1931 and sells 30 million bottles globally every year
It was the first Chinese wine to be stocked by UK supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Waitrose
What does Cabernet Gernischt mean?
It means ‘mixed Cabernet’ but has been genetically proven to be 99.99% Carménère
What doubled in China between 1999-2004?
Domestic wine consumption, more than 90% satisfied by domestic production
Which Asian country has emerged as a new global wine force in a short period of time?
China
With the fifth largest vineyard area and seventh largest wine production level in 2004
What is the country with the world’s fifth largest vineyard area and seventh’s largest wine production level
China
What is Rkatsiteli?
A Georgian wine grape varieties, one the most planted variety in the Soviet Union.
Known in China as Baiyu
An important source of neutral white wine in China
Fairly high acidity and good sugar level often used as a base for brandy
What is Muscat Hamburg?
The lowest quality of the wine producing Muscat’s
Black skinned, far more common as a table grape
It produces a fair quantity of light grapey red throughout Eastern Europe and in China, crossed with the indigenous Vitis Amurensis it has spawned a generation of varieties adapted for wine production
Where are most of China’s vineyards found?
Most of China’s 450,000 ha of vineyards are spread across provinces north of the Yangtze river
From the Xinjiang Uyger in the extreme north west
To the coastal regions of Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Tiajan
And Liaoninh and Jilin in the North East
What are the growing conditions in the coastal provinces of Shandong, Hebei and Tianjin?
They lie on the same latitude as California and are general amenable to wine production
Cool Pacific breezes moderate humidity levels and temperares range from 3•C in Winter to 26•C in summer
Monsoons and typhoons that can sweep in from the South China Sea can prove hazardous, although monsoon wind rapidly aerate vines
Springs are generally dry, but summers and Autumns can be muggy and wet promoting fungal diseases and rot
What promotes fungal diseases and rot in Chinese’s coastal provinces of Shandong, Hebei and Tianjin?
Muggy and wet summers and autumns promote fungal diseases and rot
What moderates humidity levels and temperatures in Chinese coastal provinces of Shandong, Hebei and Tianjin?
Cool Pacific breezes
What are average temperature in winter and summer in China’s Coastal provinces of Shandong, Hebei and Tianjin?
Average temperatures in winter are 3•C
Average temperatures in Summer are 26•C
What Eastern winemaking region is on the same latitude of California?
The coast provinces of Shandong, Hebei and Tianjin in China
Where in China a more suitable climate for advanced viticulture with cooler inland temperatures?
The centre of the Shandong peninsula at Pingdu.
Here the Dazashen mountains have south east and south west facing slopes with decomposed granite overlying limestone, the soil is low in nutrients with free draining soil.
Why is Pingdu in the centre of China’s Shandong peninsula considered a good region for viticulture?
It has a cool climate due to altitude
The Dazashen mountains have south east and south west facing slopes with decomposed granite overlying limestone
The soil is low in nutrients with free draining soil.
Which vineyard region in China has seen the most expansion since the late 1990s?
Xinjiang around the provincial capital Urumqi
Natural rainfall is low but vineyards tap the huge alpine water resource from the perennially snow capped Tien Shan (Heavenly Mountains), through natural river systems and man made canals.
The soils are sandy loam over granite substructures
The region is relatively disease free and only requires minimum spraying
Like most Chinese interior regions it needs winter protection
What is Winter Protection?
A cumbersome labour intensive viticultural technique aimed at protecting vines in cold continental climates against the affects of winter freeze
Vines are buried in autumn to benefit from the fact that winter temperatures below the soil surfaces are never more than a few • C below freezing, whereas air temperatures can be more than 20-30• colder
Burying vines is labour intensive and expensive
Only in Russia, Ukraine and China where labour is abundant and cheap is it considered viable
Although severe winters in Upper New York has caused it to reconsider
Vines are regained with several trunks so that those killed in winter can be easily replaced
The procedure has been modified so that only those few canes to be used for fruiting the following year are buried
What sparked the influx of foreign investment in Chinese wines?
China opening up to the outside world
Several moves were made to allow foreign investors to install a modern wine industry in north east China.
Rémy Martin set up the first Joint Venture winery in China in 1980 - Dynasty one of the four biggest wine corporations today
Pernod Ricard set up Dragon Seal winery in 1987
All ventures relied on European Vinifera vines and foreign Oenologists to produce the first Western style grape wines in China.
State wineries Chang Yu and Quingdao followed their lead
What motivated the Chinese government to encourage the replacement of cereal based Spirits with fruit based wines in the 1990s?
Health concerns - official recommendation of red wine to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease sparked a wine boom through China
And an acute grain shortage
What sparked a wine boom in China in the mid-late 1990s?
Official government advice re the health benefits of red wine, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
Thousand of cases of red wine were shipped in
Millions of litres of wine were shipped in bulk for local bottling
Distillers of traditional cereal based wine spirits adapted their plants to make or bottle wine
More than 100 new wineries opened between 1996 and 2004
Who introduced widespread plantings of Muscat Hamburg and Rkatsiteli in China?
Russians
What is China’s most popular European Grape variety?
Cabernet Sauvignon it accounts for 40% of Vinifera vines
With Merlot and Cabernet Franc about 10% each
Of the white varieties Riesling and Welschriesling dominated with 40% and Chardonnay is increasing popular (20% of white Vinifera production)
Has Phylloxera hit China?
China has not had any widespread problems with Phylloxera and the majority of vines are ungrafted in China
What is the humidity level in China?
Often over 85%
What encourages many vine diseases in China?
Strong summer rains
Humidity levels over 85%
Typically dense canopies
What vine diseases are common in China?
Anthracnose Powdery Mildew Downy Mildew Dead Arm White rot Bitter rot
Why is all vineyard work done manually in China?
Due to a cheap and plentiful workforce
Why has grape supply been an issue in China?
Because grapes are grown on intensively subdivided land, individual farmers may work in less than an acre each
They can choose their own crop and may prefer less viticulturally risky table grapes
Traditional fan trellis system, excessive yields, heavy summer irrigation, peanut cover crops, early picking to avoid rot and grape prices determined by weight alone are typical issues
Where is Domaines Baron de Rothschild’s Chinese wine estate?
Shandong
What has led to grapes arriving at Chinese wineries underripe?
Insufficient rewards to growers for waiting until full ripeness
Tendency to pick early to avoid rot
What two grapes will make up Domaines Baron de Rothschild’s inaugural vintage in China?
Cabernet Sauvignon & Marselan
How much of China’s Cabernet Gernischt goes into making Noble Dragon?
As much as 70%