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The Project--“The East is
Red”: The Emerging Wine Industry in China
Rypisi, Candace, Caltech, MC 265-86
candacer@caltech.edu
Status: Staff | download word file
The East is red.
Mao Zedong
In water one sees one’s own face; but in wine one beholds
the heart of another.
French proverb
While I don’t think that Mao had Cabernet or Merlot on his
mind when he made this famous statement, maybe he did. After all,
for millennia, cultures across the world have cultivated and consumed
wine. Wine has been used for medicinal purposes, in religious
ceremonies, as a symbol of status and wealth, and perhaps most
often, as part of social gatherings and exchanges. In China, grapes
have grown for over 6,000 years and rice wine and fortified grape
wine have been made for ages. In 2003, Chinese archeologists unearthed
a bronze jar containing 2000 year-old wine in the city of Xi’an.
However, despite its long history, it has only been recently that
the varietal, dry wine industry has emerged in China.
Over the past five years this market has grown dramatically. Between
1998-2003 wine sales grew at a rate of 10% annually. The country
went from having a dozen wineries to more than a couple hundred
in a matter of three years. Why? Experts suggest it is the growing
incomes, changes in import and export laws, research on the health
benefits of red wine, and an increased interest in most things
“Western,” that have collided to help create this
new and relatively untapped market. According to one winemaker
I met, there are 217 million potential Chinese customers between
the ages 25-45 in the middle to upper socio-economic bracket.
Currently, the drink of choice is beer, brandy, or baiju—not
wine. International companies, along with French-trained Chinese
wine connoisseurs, want to change that.
“Chinese wine?” “ I didn’t know China
made wine?” “Is it any good?” Since I first
applied for the Avery China Adventure Program these are the questions
I’ve been asked the most. My interest in Chinese wines peaked
two years ago when I heard a NPR report on the growing industry.
According to the reporter, China had everything needed to become
the next Bordeaux or Napa Valley. As a novice wine geek, my curiosity
was peaked.
China’s wine growing regions are very diverse. Spread across
the country, my Avery travels took me to 7 cities in an all too
brief 30 days: Beijing, Qingdao, Yantai, Urumqi, Turfan, Xi’an
and Shanghai. It was in these cities that I hoped to learn more
about Chinese wine. Not just about the development of the industry,
but about the culture of wine in this ancient country. What do
the Chinese think about wine? Why are they growing in popularity?
What does it say about the Western influence on Chinese culture?
How is it that people from various economic backgrounds participate
in wine making and wine consumption? How do the growers and winemakers
think about wine? Is it viewed differently in different parts
of the country? And, perhaps most importantly, can you learn about
the heart of another through wine?
BEIJING
My first stop—Beijing. Beijing is located in the Northeast
of China and is considered the cultural capital of the country.
In July it was very hot, humid, smoggy, and crowded. And it was
very, very exciting. I landed in Beijing with a list of people
to meet and things to see--some having to do with finding wine,
and some having to do with finding the “heart” of
this cultural mecca. During my first few days, while I tried to
connect with my contacts and make arrangements for visits to the
wineries, I was able to explore the city, looking for its heartbeat.
The feel of the city is both energizing and overwhelming. The
hoards of people, the mix of modern and ancient architecture,
the bright colors, the cars and bikes, the food—all completely
new to me, and as a solo traveler a bit intimidating. I felt as
if I was “jarred” out of the reality of my day-to-day,
comfortable life in Pasadena—which was perfect, since that
was exactly what I hoped this trip would do.
My first day in China was funny and indicative of the many “serendipitous”
encounters I would go on to have. I woke up early thanks to jetlag
and headed off to Tian’anmen Square. Despite how many times
my Chinese friends in the US warned me that people would stare,
I had no idea how true this was or what it would feel like. I
was almost as big of an attraction as the Mao Memorial or Forbidden
City. The mere sight of me would stop people in their tracks,
little kids would run up to tap me, the “meiguo ren,”
on the arm, and groups of women would giggle and stare as I walked
by. Of course, there were also the college students who would
approach me with a kind “hello,” wanting a chance
to practice their English. I welcomed the attention. It was honest
and curious and innocent. I’d wait until I would catch their
eye and with a big smile say, “Ni hao!” This would
lead to further laughter and usually a brief conversation and
exchange of longer glances. I learned that you don’t need
language to communicate with others and that despite our many
cultural differences, honesty and openness are usually are good
beginning.
Shortly into my morning, a little girl came up and sat down next
to me on the steps where I was resting. She was eating ice cream
and she had it all over her face. Within a few minutes her mom
and brother joined us, bringing me a popsicle of my own. They
spoke no English and within a few minutes my limited Mandarin
was all used up. Luckily my digital camera provided the children
with lots of fun and we all enjoyed taking photos of one another.
After a while I got up to go and to my surprise, they came with
me. We ended up spending the entire day together. They showed
me all around Tian’anmen and the Forbidden City. We had
lunch and dinner together, flew kites in the Square and used my
Mandarin phrase book to communicate with one another. I wish I
could tell you their names, but I can’t. Early in the day,
when I asked the mother her name, she replied, SanShiBa. Later
that week in a conversation with a Chinese friend also visiting
Beijing, I told her the story. She looked at me puzzled and said,
“Her name was 38?” All day long I called her 38—which
I can only guess now was her age and not her name!
In the beginning, getting into my project was more difficult than
I expected. People I had meetings with were suddenly out of town
and the “innovative” wine stores I planned to visit
had long gone out of business. A couple of days into my trip I
emailed home and joked that I was having a hard time finding a
way into China’s wine industry. I wrote: “I haven’t
yet looked in the Ming Tombs, but perhaps I will find it there.”
Little did I know how close to the truth that was!
Rongchen Winery
On my fifth day in Beijing, I toured Rongchen Winery. A few days
earlier I had met with the owner of a large wine importer, Montrose
Food and Wine. After exhausting him with all of my questions,
he suggested that he set up a time for me to visit Rongchen. He
was sure that I would learn a lot and that they would be pleased
to have me. Montrose graciously organized the trip, offered to
send a staff person along as an interpreter, and even negotiated
transportation to and from the winery.
Rongchen vineyard is located just west of the Badaling Great Wall,
30 kilometers from the Huai Lai basin at the nexus of the Taihang
and Yanshan Mountains. Not too far from those Ming Tombs, after
all! The landscape was beautiful as we left the city and the traffic
behind and entered into the rolling hills and orchard side. Apples,
pears, peaches, melons and gourds were being picked and sold along
the highway. The entire region is a registered agricultural production
area and is perfect for growing and harvesting grapes. The day
I visited it was a cool 65 degrees and it was lightly raining--a
welcome relief from the oppressive heat of Beijing.
Rongchen is a highly successful private venture. The winery opened
in 1997 after its owner, Hairong Duan, returned from a visit to
France. His goal was simple: to make high quality wines using
the vast natural resources available in China. He imported French
vines of varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay.
Depending on the type of grape and weather conditions, grape yields
at Rongchen can reach 7-10 tons per hectare. In 2000, the vineyard
was appointed as a UNESCO site for education and research training.
Throughout the year, wine makers and enologists from around the
country come to Rongchen to learn about growing, harvesting, winemaking,
and manufacturing.
At the nearby winery, wine is produced, bottled and packaged.
Rongchen has a production capacity of 3000 tons, or 4 million
bottles, of wine annually. The facility has all modern equipment
for wine fermentation imported from Italy and France. The de-stemmers,
stainless steel fermenting tanks, and storage tanks are some of
the best and technologically advanced in China. The winery has
a European-style, wine cellar complete with aged, French-oak barrels.
I was impressed to find that everything about Rongchen is organic.
The grapes are organically grown and all the food served is organically
grown on site. The vineyard is located on the slopes of Guanting
Lake—a manmade lake that provides irrigation to the winery
and other local orchards. Each morning vineyard workers go to
the lake to catch fish for the daily meals. The staff takes pride
in being self-sufficient and being able to run their entire venture
with as little negative impact to the environment as possible.
Given the unfortunate amount of pollution and terrible air and
water quality in Beijing this is even more impressive.
The company's main products are the Rongchen Dry Red Wine and
Rongchen Dry White Wine. These can be best described as “table
wines”—blended from mix of several varietals. They
are simple, easy, drinkable wines. One wine expert goes so far
as calling them “vapid,” but I found them a little
better than that. The vines are still very young and the Chinese
are still experimenting to find the best ways to deal with environmental
challenges. One such challenge is that each fall vines in this
region need to be covered up with dirt, by hand, to protect them
from the harsh winters. Each spring workers dig them out, again
by hand. This is uniquely Chinese and the effects on the health
of the vine and the grape are not yet fully understood. Another
challenge is the lack of a market that makes it financially difficult
to produce time intensive wines. The Chinese do not yet enjoy
well-balanced, complex wines and even if they could, would most
likely not be able to afford the cost of such wines. The most
acceptable price point at this time is $3US per bottle. Therefore,
the majority of wines being produced by Rongchen, and others,
are blends, fermented in steel, and immediately bottled. However,
Rongchen wines show real promise. I was fortunate to both an oak-aged
Chardonnay and Cabernet. Both were well-balanced, young wines.
Viti and Oeno Conference, Beijing Agriculture University
Before leaving Rongchen, Mr. Liang, the general manager, invited
me to attend an upcoming wine conference at the China Agricultural
University. This 3-day event would be the first conference of
its kind, bringing together scientists, vineyard owners, and government
officials to discuss China’s progress in this area.
CAU recently launched a new Center for Viticulture and Enology
in their College of Food Sciences and Nutritional Engineering.
This new research center is largely funded by one of China’s
largest wine producers, The Great Wall winery. The Center also
has collaborative programs with UC Davis, Southwest Missouri State,
University of burgundy in France, and Charles Stuart University
in Australia. The first group of students—30 undergraduates
and 50 graduate students and postdocs--entered into the program
in 2002.
Being invited to this event was an honor. I was the only non-Chinese
person there, and the only thing that most of the attendees knew
about me was that I was from California—which I think, to
them meant Napa Valley. Needless to say I was treated like royalty!
Two students—Jessie and Andrew-- served as my interpreters
and guides. They toured me around campus, interpreted all of the
lectures, introduced me to winemakers from all over the country,
and during lunch they took me to the office of the Wine Club and
shared with me some of their favorite wines. When I asked them
what they thought of the Robert Mondavi wine we were tasting,
they replied, “Wine is to be experienced, not discussed.”
True wine geeks in the making!
One special address was given by Guo Qichang, who is referred
to as the Godfather of Chinese wine. Now in his late 80’s,
Mr. Guo first began studying wine in 1947 in France. His message
was passionate and simple: China needs to pay more attention to
the grape and less attention to the technology. Mr. Guo lectured
on the “art” of winemaking and the reverence one needs
to pay to the land, the vine, and the grape to yield high quality
wine. Technology is a tool, he said, but it cannot replace he
fundamentals. The more I learned during my trip, the more I began
to understand Mr. Guo’s lecture. At one winery, the winemaker
did not, could not, drink wine because of allergies. He didn’t,
however, feel like this was a problem though since he knew the
science behind winemaking.
QINGDAO
My next stop: Qingdao. I arrived at this hazy and humid beach
town at the peak of tourist season. As my taxi dropped me off
at the hotel, just across from Number 6 Beach hoards of Chinese
travelers were enjoying swimming in the Yellow Sea, searching
for shells along the coastline, or watching the divers jump off
the pier. Qingdao is a unique blend of old Germany and new China.
While a German concession under the rule of Kaiser Wilhelm the
city built a brewery in 1903 and now makes Chinese most popular
drink, Tsingtao Beer. So it might be odd that it I came to Qingdao
looking for wine.
However, the Shandong Province has the highest concentration of
wineries in all of China. There are over 100 wineries in this
province and 20 of those are considered large (producing over
1000 tons per year). The coastal climate and fertile soil create
a perfect location for growing vines.
Huadong Winery
Huadong Winery is located at the base of Nine Dragon Hill in Laoshan,
approximately 40-minutes outside of Qingdao. Originally I didn’t
think I’d be able to visit Huadong. I had called several
times and had a difficult time making arrangements. After a particularly
frustrating day, and my first real bout with homesickness, I walked
into the local CITS. Close to tears I asked them for advice on
how to make the most of my time in Qingdao. While trying to convince
me that I should take a tour of Tsingtao Brewery I said that what
I really wanted to do was to go to Huadong. The two women behind
the desk perked up and said that they had also really wanted to
go there, but that they knew nothing about wine and were intimidated
to go. A match made in heaven!
Huadong was the first joint venture in China to produce varietal
dry white and red wines in accordance with international beverage
standards. It was founded in 1985 by British wine entrepreneur,
Michael Parry. Since then Huadong has been under the management
of government executive leadership—including Hiram Walker
and Sons importers.
Parry wanted to create a true “chateau-style” winery
and to make high-quality wines. The landscape at Huadong is much
like what you would expect when driving up to a winery in Napa
Valley. It had a long drive up a steep hill that eventually unveiled
a magnificent valley of trees, flowers, and vines. The vineyard
was littered with sculptures, patios and cool trellises. The Huadong
website comments: “This rich, fragrant scene which unfurls
before the eye is not merely the fusion of Eastern and Western
culture, it is a higher level spiritual realm, a tribute to the
grape.”
The next day my friends from CITS and I headed off to visit Huadong.
We arranged to be met by the granddaughter of the winemaker. Along
with our taxi driver, who we had to bribe with wine, not to leave
us stranded, we toured the property, visited the bottling facility,
and tasted a couple of wines.
Huadong grows over a dozen wine varieties, including Chardonnay,
Riesling and Gamay. Perhaps most unique to Huadong is their Ice
wine. They are the only Chinese winery making Ice wine and to
do so rely on importing grapes in bulk from Canada. We tasted
a 2002 Chardonnay that was aged in French oak barrels. It was
a complex and buttery—and well, good. My cronies however
didn’t like it. They determined that they prefer beer! We
also tasted a 1998 Cabernet Dry Red Wine, which had hints of blackberry
and oak with soft tannins in the finish. No doubt, my favorite
wine in China.YANTAI
From Qingdao I took a bus 2 hours north along the peninsula to
Yantai. Yantai is a harbor town with tankers coming in from the
Yellow Sea and daily ferries that go to Seoul, South Korea. The
largest company in Yantai is Changyu Winery. Along the highway
to Yantai were large billboards advertising Changyu Wine and in
the town street flags hung to advertise the Changyu Wine Museum.
Changyu
Changyu is by far the oldest winery in China. Believe it or not,
it was founded 112 years ago by Zhang Bishi. Today, Changyu is
China’s most popular and well-known brand. Since 2001, Changyu
has been in partnership with Castel, a French importing company.
Just on the outskirts of town sits a beautiful, if not completely
out of place, French –style chateau. Beneath the château
is China’s largest cellar, covering an area of 2700 square
meters with over 1200 oak barrels.
At the site of the original winery is now a wine museum. It is
said that it is at this location that Mao Zedong delivered the
famous line, “Let the people drink more wine.” The
Museum is truly spectacular. A large marble waterfall greets 400+
visitors daily. After paying a small entrance fee a tour guide
is assigned to you—luckily mine spoke English! The museum
had:
- Timeline of Chinese winemaking history
- Interactive displays to allow visitors to learn about the winemaking
process
- A coin-operated display where for one Yuan you could see how
brandy is made and end up with a shot to taste at the end
- Displays of Changyu award-winning vintages
- A tour of the original cellar where you can tap into barrels
and taste as you go.
At the end of the tour, visitors are invited to relax in the tasting
room and continue trying the wines. While I was there, a tour
group of 25 or so Chinese businessmen were tasting a Cabernet.
While they were having a great time, the overwhelming consensus
was that they didn’t like the taste of wine. In fact, most
of them kept asking for ice cubes to cool down the wine. The bartender
gave them the cubes while politely explaining that it was meant
to be drank at room temperature. By this time I was already used
to seeing glasses of cabernet or merlot served over ice.
After the museum, I traveled to the outskirts of town to visit
Changyu’s research and production facility. Mr. Li, Changyu’s
lead scientist, met with me to teach me more about Changyu. Changyu
has over 4000 employees and sells approximately $500,000 RMB in
wine annually. Like Rongchen and the Great Wall Winery, Changyu
is also connected to a major research university—The University
of Xi’an. Mr. Li and Changyu provide research experience
for over 300 students and scholars. I was fortunate to visit on
a day that a new postdoc had just arrived. Together we were shown
the fermentation tanks and bottling plant.
China Wine Online
To prepare for my trip I spent a lot of time reading the daily
news from the website, Chine Wine Online. This site follows the
business trends in the wine industry and serves as the industry
newspaper. Surprisingly, they get 2000-3000 hits a day. Located
in Yantai, I was able to meet with editor and writer, Chen Jun.
Over a glass of Perrier, Mr. Chen shared with me some thoughts
on the Chinese wine market:
- The Chinese have high brand loyalty, which means that they are
more interested and willing to buy wine from a known Chinese brand.
- China needs to further regulate wine production to ensure high
quality wines and to gain the trust and respect from international
markets.
- Wineries need to teach professionals and the public about wine.
Currently, there are few wine tastings and trainings available
and few hotel and restaurant management schools that train sommeliers.
One interesting point that Mr. Chen raised was this notion of
“friendship.” He explained that doing business in
China is all about friendship. Relationships are primary. Without
a strong relationship you won’t get very far. For example,
Mr. Chen asked, what are you paying to stay in this hotel? I told
him and he said that if he had been here with me when I arrived
he would have been able to get it much cheaper. Friendship.
URUMQI
If Americans thought I was strange for going wine tasting in China,
then the Chinese thought I was strange for leaving the Eastern
cities and heading Northwest to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region. I got the sense that I was heading into the great unknown,
the “wilderness” one person said. On the plane I was
told to be careful and to watch my belongings at all times. A
few travelers told me that the Uygurs were not to be trusted.
By time I arrived at midnight I was afraid and ready for the worst.
Luckily I found just the opposite. Urumqi, like Qingdao, Yantai
and Beijing before, quickly became my most favorite part of China.
Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang. It lies along the infamous
Silk Road and is just hours from Tibet, Mongolia, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India and Kazakhstan. Xinjiang is home to 47 ethnic
minorities (or non-Han), the main minority being the Uygurs. The
region is influenced by its Turkic and Mongol heritage. It is
also a key agricultural region, growing the country’s supply
of tomatoes and grapes. Urumqi is a new, modern city. Wide streets,
trees lined avenues, and lots of SUVS along the roadway, indicate
that this place is very different from Beijing. In fact, the landscape
felt very much like a blend of Phoenix and Denver to me.
Suntime Winery
Suntime Winery is the largest winery in Asia. With the same latitude
44 degree as Bordeaux and California, Xinjiang produces the best
grapes and wines in China. Suntime Winery possesses the state-of-the-art
wine making equipment from France and Italy.
Suntime is located on the plains just to the north of Tian Shan
Mountain and the river valley of Yili. Built in 1998, there are
three main vineyards in Yili, Mahe and Tianchi. I was able to
visit the main production plant and tasting rooms in Manas, a
three hour drive from Urumqi. Suntime sent their director of marketing
and sales to pick me up and drive me to Manas. During the drive
Mr. Yu and I spoke of China’s wine industry, Suntime’s
history and successes, and the culture of the Xinjiang region.
Before long we ran out of topics and after a few minutes of silence
Mr. Yu requested that I sing for him! He wanted to know if I knew
any country songs!
Suntime seems to approach winemaking with the same pioneering
spirit that is found all over Xinjiang. They are leaders in the
industry for their use of marketing and advertising--paying big
money for famous stars to appear in their ads. They use multiple
forms of media, print, radio, TV, to advertise their wine and
their success. Truthfully, Suntime doesn’t have a good reputation
among the wineries in the East. Just this year, Suntime made the
decision to lower their prices, undercutting the prices of every
other winery. They are creatively looking at ways to introduce
the market to wine and just last year introduced the “wine
in a bag” concept to China.
I loved the feel of this winery and the wine itself. The vines
were more mature and the history of winemaking in the region adds
to a security about their winemaking.
Conclusion
“Chinese wine?” “ I didn’t know China
made wine?” “Is it any good?” YES, YES, and
YES! While I’m not sure that I’m ready to forego my
favorite Napa Chardonnay or Australian Shiraz, I am excited about
Chinese wines. I think that this market has real potential, especially
in exporting. As we’ve seen in the past the world is intrigued
by the “next new” product—Australian, Chilean,
and even Mexican wines being an example.
However, China has a long way to go before their own people embrace
varietal wines. Winemakers and distributors need to “create”
a Chinese wine market, that includes merging tradition with the
future, and training and educating professionals.
Was I able, through my wine journey, to catch a glimpse at the
heart of China? Absolutely. I fell in love with the graciousness,
sense of humor, and kindness of the Chinese people. I enjoyed
watching families spend time together and found comfort in communities
relaxing in the park, practicing Tai Chi, or flying kites together.
By traveling alone I took risks and chances that I might not have
otherwise taken. I was exposed and open to meeting people and
made many new friends just by sitting on a park bench or going
into a restaurant alone. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience
and one that I will never forget.
Thank you.Special thanks to:
Avery China Adventure Program, especially Pam Logan
Caltech, especially Carolyn Ash, Erica O’Neal, Jennifer
Cichocki, and Emery Johnson
David Henderson, Ethan Perk, and Vlada Uliyanova, Montrose Food
and Wine
Jeff Cook, Mondavi Wine
Liang Lie Jian and Li Jia Qing, Rongchen Winery
Dr. Duan Changqing, China Agricultural University
Liu Yunjie (Jessie) and Ge Yi Xuan (Andrew), China Agricultural
University
Shally Sun and Susan Hu, Qingdao CITS Office
Huadong Winery
Chen Jun, China Wine Online
Li Jiming, Changyu Winery
Yu Qingyong and Jiang Yan, Suntime International Wine Co.
George Zhao, Consultant and Wine Writer in Qingdao
Jancis Robison, Wine Writer
Charlie and Cathy George, Wine Consultants in Yantai
Stephen Riess, member of the first US-China Wine Delegation
Yan Cong, Xi’an
Celia Xia, Shanghai
Caltech C members, especially Xin Liu, Yi and Rongmei Pan, Min
Tao, Ying Gong, Yong Hao, Xiaojie and Jiansong Gao
Wu Shuang, Beijing
Jenny Chen, SinoHotel Booking Guide
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