There are more than 8,000 types of grapes in the world, about 1,000 of which can make wine. China has a huge blank in this field, and the current technical specifications of wine making fall behind those places.įourth, wine offerings. Almost all world-renowned wine-producing countries have long-established laws for wine production, down to the details of grape growing, varietal selection, planting methods, harvesting time, wine-making methods, auxiliary materials, and other aspects.
However, Chinese wine making is still introducing equipment and ideas. Wineries in either the Old World or the New World (New Zealand, Australia, the United States, etc.) have had their wine-making techniques and experiences handed down for decades or even centuries. Second, wine-making philosophy and technique. There is no strict standard in the selection of grape-planting areas, a lack of experience in soil management and inspection, and also a gap in cultivation methods. However, China’s wine-grape-planting history is relatively short. Through experiments across terroirs and climates, they have developed their official varietals as well as growing guides. Renowned wine-making regions in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and other countries of the Old World have hundreds of years of wine history.
Because China is still relatively new to wine growing, there is still room for grape quality to improve. Wine making has specific and strict requirements for the grapes that make wine. Why, after so many years, is China’s wine production industry still in its infancy? Why are many international wines cheaper and better than domestic ones? You can point to five clear reasons.įirst, wine grapes. What are the differences between domestic and imported red wine ? This is a condensed and edited version of that interview. GLG invited Liu Feng, a GLG Network Member and former vintner at the Grace Vineyard in Shanxi and the Ao Yun Winery of Moët Hennessy, to interpret the domestic and international wine landscape. But with the global pandemic and the introduction of China’s anti-dumping policy, the consumption of domestic wine has soared. In the past, imported wine dominated the Chinese market. According to a survey by International Wine and Spirit Research, China has overtaken France and Italy to become the world’s largest consumer of red wine. Red wine has long been considered a social gift in China, but that is evolving.
You will still see whites in green glass, especially from 'classic' wine regions, and you will also see occasionally reds in clear glass, though in this latter case the glass will have probably been UV treated as even, though such wines will be drunk young, they will likely sit in full light on supermarket shelves for a while.With the generation born in the 1980s and ’90s coming to center stage as consumers, the Chinese taste for wine is changing. Wines which will be drunk quickly, in a year or two after harvest have no need of UV protection. Of course, given the traditional nature of the product, traditional packaging is expected by the consumer, even though modern wine bottles can be coated with a UV filter so dark glass is now less relevant. Even though these wines are normally stored in wooden cases in dark cellars or temperature controlled warehouses, light damage over these long periods is a real possibility, hence the darkened glass. These are vintage wines which will live in their bottles for anything from between 5 and upwards of 50 years. Wines like the Grand Crus of Bordeaux which are predominantly red, the great whites (and reds) of Burgundy, Champagne, the reds of Rioja Reserva and Gran Reserva, the great red wines of Tuscany, and the humungous Cabernets and Merlots of California.
Great wines that are always aged for long periods are stored in green or brown glass to limit the damage caused by light over time. I'm a designer specialising in wine packaging and I can say that, with the exception of 'great' wines, most decisions about glass are made on purely aesthetic or economic grounds.