BORDEAUX, Burgundy… Xinjiang. The world's wine map may have to be significantly re-drawn with figures showing more than a glass is being raised to China.
Such is the pace of wine consumption in China that last year the country produced more than 700 million bottles with new statistics showing that production will outstrip Australia's by 2009.
Supermarket chain Morrisons has already added two wines
from the north-west of China to its portfolio, while London fine wine merchants Berry Brothers & Rudd (BBR) has predicted that, by 2058, China will have all the essential ingredients to make fine wine to rival the best of Bordeaux.
Jasper Morris, senior buyer for BBR, says he expects China's current 400 wineries to grow by more than tenfold with up to a quarter producing fine quality wine.
"I absolutely think China will be a fine wine player rivalling the best wines from France. It is entirely conceivable that, in such a vast country, there will be pockets of land with a terroir and micro-climate well suited to the production of top quality wines."
Wine consumption is rocketing in China. More than a 100 wineries have opened since 1996, swelling the number of vineyards to more than 500.
New figures from the Chinese government, showing the production of 700 million bottles of wine in 2007, indicate that it is the sixth largest producer in the world. This figure is expected to increase substantially over the next five to 10 years, driven by demand from China's burgeoning middle class.
At present, there are 310,000 US dollar millionaires in China and 106 US dollar billionaires. Demand for wine, both domestic and imported, has reached unprecedented levels.
According to Alberto Fernandez, general manager of Torres China, a wine importer with offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, there are currently fewer than 10 well-known Chinese labels but they enjoy "huge consumer awareness" in China and often beat better imported labels for shelf space.
Most vineyards in China are state or collectively owned and subdivided into individual plots of less than half a hectare. Shandong, to the south-east of Beijing, is the largest producer. Having the same latitude to California, it is one of the most suitable regions for producing wines.
In the north-west, Xinjiang province is also a major producer but its production is hampered by the bitterly cold winters.
Chinese wine typically sells for 35 yuan (£2.60) a bottle, although some finer varieties can sell for over 400 yuan (£29). For example, China Torres sells a bottle of Chairman's Reserve, a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, from the Grace vineyard in Shanxi region, for 405 yuan.
Foreign wines sell for over 100 yuan at the lower end, and fine wines go for thousands of yuan.
Philippe Larue, director of Scottish wine merchants l'Art du Vin, said: "It goes very well with Chinese food. You can grow grapes almost anywhere in the world now, so why not China? But when they like something they are very good at systematically recreating it. If they want to make good wine, they will learn and copy it and try and make it the best in the world.
"They also have to find their own identity. There is no point in just recreating the great wines of Europe. Rather like Argentina made the Malbec grape variety its own, China will have to find something that represents what they are producing."
The news comes as Hong Kong is set to overtake London as the wine market and storage centre of choice for Asia's wealthy. Most of the region's super rich buy and store their fine wines in London, but auction house Bonhams has already held its first auction of wine there in a decade, while New York wine merchant Acker Merrall & Condit is holding one in Hong Kong next Sunday.
Taste test
Will Lyons
Wine CorrespondentMorrisons' decision to bring Chinese wine to the British high street, the most competitive and crowded wine market in the world, is a bold move. Grant Eastwood, Morrisons' licensed trades director, believes China has the potential to make wine that can compete with the world's best-selling wine-producing countries, such as Australia. On the evidence of Silk Road, Chinese wine has a long way to go if it is to compete on quality and price.
There is nothing really very wrong with these wines but nothing distinguishes them from the pack either. Given the price, I would look elsewhere. It's the sort of white wine that wouldn't really get noticed if it was made in Europe. Silk Road has a French winemaker at the helm and its vineyards are looked after by local families who are guaranteed a good price for their grapes by the government. Given time, they may improve.
The full article contains 813 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
