Wine grapes are grown in all of China's 23 provinces, but most of the vineyards are located in Xinjiang (northwest, 21%) and the provinces surrounding Beijing (28%) which lie on the same latitude as California. In 2002 there were 825,300 acres under vine, but only around 20% were planted to wine grapes. The rest were used for table grapes, fruit juice, and raisins.

Leading Varieties
Three species of vitis are native to China and one, v. amurensis, has been used in hybridizing programs to favor cold tolerance. Most of Xinjiang's winegrapes are grown on v. amurensis rootstock. But since the Chinese appetite for wine was most successfully satisfied by rice wine, the traditional wine industry got off to a late start.

Since China possesses few indigenous wine grapes, all the dominant winegrape varieties are European and particularly eastern European varieties such as Rkatsiteli. The dominant white variety is Riesling, followed by Rkatsiteli, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.

Leading the pack of red varieties is Muscat Hamburg, a cross of Black Hamburg and (white) Muscat of Alexandria. Next in line is Pinot Noir, followed by Carignane, Lemberger, and Grenache.

Multi-national Assistance and the Wine Boom
In the 1980s China looked to Europe and Canada for assistance in establishing modern wineries. The first of these efforts paired Cognac giant Rémy Martin with the Tianjin Agriculture Bureau. The Great Wall winery was established in Hebei, south of the capital, in 1982 and quickly rose to become China's largest winery. Investments followed by Western firms such as Pernod Ricard, Allied Domeq, and Seagrams.

Many distillers adapted their plants to produce and bottle grape wine. Small wineries appeared almost overnight like mushrooms after a Spring rain. Many of these adopted European nomenclature, calling their small estates chateaux. Today, even Great Wall has become Chateau Great Wall.

Wine Quality in China

Travelers who have experienced the wines of Great Wall, Dynasty, and Dragon Seal uniformly report that Western wineries are unlikely to suffer from the competition. But quality wine is being produced by China's small wineries and it will steadily improve as Chinese winemakers continue to study and adopt Western ways.

China Relaxes Wine Import Tariffs

The single event that is likely to catapult China onto the international wine scene is the complete removal of tariffs on imported wine in Hong Kong. In 2007 China reduced its import duties on wine from 80% to 40%. Then in 2008 they were removed entirely. At this time the tariff elimination applies only to Hong Kong, but the effect has been enormous. In the year the tariffs were eliminated wine imports increased by 80%! U. S. wine shipments to China doubled, headed by Washington State's Chateau Ste.-Michelle.

A Look at the Future

The Chinese are discovering how well wine complements their traditional cuisine. They are particularly fond of dry red wine, which now leads white wine sales by 5 to 1 in Hong Kong. And the red wine that the Chinese have come to prefer? Woodward Canyon, Pepper Bridge, and L'Ecole No. 41-all Washington State wines. Will Chinese wineries succeed in matching the quality of these splendid American wines? In time, perhaps. But for the present it seems that American wine is capturing the hearts of the Chinese.