00:00 (gentle music)
00:02 This is one of many vineyards in China producing wine.
00:06 It grows a variety of grapes,
00:08 from Cabernet Sauvignon to Mersaline
00:11 to produce wines that have received numerous accolades,
00:14 including wins at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards
00:18 and the London Wine Competition.
00:20 - Not too bad, still need time.
00:27 Probably in seven to 10 days before dessert to pick.
00:31 - Winemaking in China dates back
00:36 to the Han Dynasty in 206 BC,
00:39 but modern winemaking didn't begin here until the 1980s,
00:44 when French companies started to invest in the country.
00:48 After more than 40 years of development,
00:51 China's wine industry has come a long way.
00:54 It started off by experimenting with grape varieties
00:58 and deciding which would grow best.
01:01 Then it went through a stage of imitating
01:03 other wine-producing regions.
01:05 Today, Chinese wineries are developing their own tastes,
01:11 sometimes even earning international acclaim.
01:14 Most of China's vineyards are in the provinces
01:16 of Ningxia, Yunnan, Shanxi, and Shandong.
01:21 (glass clinks)
01:24 - Maybe 15 years or 20 years ago,
01:29 we would be quite nervous
01:32 because we didn't know where we are standing.
01:34 But now, confidence that the quality of our wines now
01:38 is in par with a lot of international brands.
01:40 - Professional critics are not the only ones
01:43 who have started to recognise the quality of Chinese wine.
01:47 Domestic consumers are also becoming more knowledgeable.
01:50 (speaking in foreign language)
02:16 China is the world's eighth largest consumer of wine
02:20 and also the 10th largest wine producer.
02:23 Major Chinese winemakers produced
02:25 about 2.7 million kilolitres of wine in 2022,
02:29 a year when the country also imported
02:31 4.2 million kilolitres of foreign wine.
02:35 Recently, Chinese wine producers have been using Hong Kong,
02:39 a regional wine hub with zero duty,
02:42 as a stepping stone to the international market.
02:45 Chinese President Xi Jinping
02:48 reportedly gave domestically made wine
02:50 to French President Emmanuel Macron
02:53 during his recent state visit.
02:56 But the Chinese wine industry still faces challenges,
02:59 especially when it comes to building
03:01 a brand image of its own.
03:03 Currently, the country's wine-producing regions
03:06 are often described as China's Napa or China's Bordeaux.
03:11 Winemakers like Li would prefer the day
03:14 when places like Linxia and Shanxi
03:16 become recognisable brands in their own right,
03:19 without the need to borrow foreign names
03:21 to impress consumers.
03:23 Because we are not in Bordeaux, we are not in New Zealand.
03:25 We are in China.
03:26 I think the most important thing is that, yeah,
03:27 we are still fairly new in the industry.
03:29 To understand the region a bit more,
03:31 it really take times and take years of experience
03:34 in the vineyards and winemaking
03:36 to set up the standard, I think.
03:38 Others say significant progress is being made
03:41 in China's quest for quality.
03:43 But I think there is still a concept of "local style" in China.
03:47 Even if you go to different regions,
03:48 like Shandong, Ningxia, Yunnan,
03:51 there is still a big difference.
03:53 The style of the same variety, different wineries
03:55 from different regions is still quite obvious.
03:58 I think there is still a "local style",
04:00 but I think it does take time to form a "local style"
04:04 that the market recognises.
04:07 But I think there is still a lot of hope in the future.
04:10 That optimism is blended with a realisation
04:14 that the process of improving wine production
04:17 does not happen overnight.
04:18 The general Chinese industry, besides winemaking,
04:21 things move really fast and things change really fast,
04:24 but not for winemaking market.
04:26 As winemakers, I mean, we can only make wine once per year
04:31 because the grapes only mature once per year,
04:34 and we can't rush it.
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