Wines from across the Great Wall

China, being the third largest country in the world and second largest country in Asia, can easily be called the manufacturing hub of the world. Being the most populated country, it has turned its weakness (huge population) into strength (skilled manpower). The country intelligently used its vast manpower and ventured out in various directions in the business of manufacturing. Cheap labour, abundant land, easy availability of raw materials and favourable government reforms has helped it to become a pioneer in the business.

China has many diversified manufacturing businesses with a staggering population of 1.2 billion people all heading towards a common goal of continual progress and sustainable supremacy.

A country with such a legacy in the field of production makes one wonder how can it be left behind in the business of making and selling wine. For the record, China has been producing wine for centuries. The earliest records date back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC) but wine was a precious commodity used only in sacred temple rituals and in the palace of the Emperor. Wines were made from various base ingredients like herbs, grains and fruits. Grape wine though not a traditional Chinese product was first mentioned in a Chinese poem during the Han Dynasty. Since 1900, it has increasingly been produced and consumed in China as a result of increased Western influence.

‘Jiu’ is the Chinese word for alcohol and is used to mean all types of alcoholic beverages. Therefore a grape wine would be called ‘Putao Jiu’ (literally meaning grape alcohol). This lumping together of all intoxicating beverages gives a great insight into the traditional use for alcohol, intoxication. Even in modern China, alcoholic beverages are generally classified by the general population on the basis of how much intoxication it delivers for the money. From this point of view, table wine is at the bottom rung of the consumer preference list, with brandy being much higher.

Chinese wines can generally be classified into two types, namely yellow liquors (huangjiu) or clear (white) liquors (baijiu). Chinese yellow liquors are fermented wines that are brewed directly from grains such as rice or wheat. Such liquors contain less than 20 per cent alcohol, due to the inhibition of fermentation by ethanol at this concentration. These wines are traditionally pasteurised, aged and filtered before their final bottling for sale to consumers.

Yellow liquors can also be distilled to produce white liquors, or baijiu. White liquors (baijiu) are also commonly called shaojiu, which means ‘hot liquor’ or ‘burned liquor’, either because of the burning sensation in the mouth during consumption, the fact that they are usually warmed before being consumed, or because of the heating required for distillation. Liquors of this type typically contain more than 30 per cent alcohol in volume since they have undergone distillation. There are a great many varieties of distilled liquors, both unflavoured and flavoured.

Premium cork finished wines made from vinifera grapes (such as Cabernet and Chardonnay) are still a minority. This is because of the market resistance to wines and their pricing techniques. In China, a bottle of beer would be much preferred over a bottle of wine not because of the taste but because it comes at one-fourth of the price of the wine and provides a better level of intoxication. The Chinese wine-makers are not competing with other winemakers for market share but are fighting with other spirits and distilleries for preference.

Today, there are over 200 grape wineries in china but the most famous are Dynasty and Great Wall Wine Company Ltd. These wineries work in the form of a Sino-French joint venture. The Dynasty was established in 1980 as a joint-venture between Tianjin City Grape Garden and Remy Martin, France. It was the first Sino-foreign joint venture in Tianjin city and one of the earliest of this kind in China. Till date, the Dynasty wines have won 10 times ‘The Certificate of Best Selling Grape Wines’ in the People’s republic of China (PRC) by the China Industry and Enterprise Information Centre.

The Dynasty wine’s dry reds and extra dry whites are produced from Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling, Chardonnay respectively. The grapes are handpicked at their maturity and fermented in stainless steel tanks under strict temperature supervision, the reds are rich in grape flavour and have the characteristics like well balanced, smooth, round and full bodied with long finish. The whites can boast of pale yellow with slight green in colour, crystal clear in appearance, fruity, refreshing and perfect balance in taste. These white wines when taken with seafood like fish, shrimps and crabs enhances the delicious taste of these delicacies, while at the same time, it expresses its own best quality to the maximum. Their Sparkling Wine is made from Chardonnay and Italian Riesling grown in the coastal region of Tianjin by applying French Champagne-making technology.

The Great Wall Wine Co Ltd has their own range of dry reds and whites. Their reds mainly use merlot and go the skin-soaking fermentation way making the fruity merlot wine smooth and mellow in taste. Their whites use Chardonnay and after oak ageing those, the wines pronounce a golden hue with crisp flavours. The Great Wall sparkling wine are made with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir using French Champagne-making technology, these wines are crisp and tasty, light-yellow in colour and slightly smell of yeast and toast.

Apart from these grape wine giants, the Chinese are also famous for their traditional wines. Some of the renowned ones are:

Fen jiu: This wine was dated back to Northern and Southern Dynasties (550 AD). It is the original Chinese white wine made from sorghum with a whopping ABV (Alcohol by volume content) of 63-65 per cent.

Da Gu jiu: Originated from Sichuan with a 300 year history. This wine is made of sorghum and wheat by fermenting in a unique process for a long period in the cellar. It has an ABV of 52 per cent.

Yuk Bing Shiu jiu: A rice wine with over a 100 year history. It is made of steamed rice. It is stored a long period after distillation. Its ABV content is 30 per cent. The Chinese domestic market for wine is projected to become the largest in the world in a few decades, even though the current yearly consumption of wine in China is only 0.35 litres per person. In 2008, wine merchant Berry Brothers and Rudd predicted that within 50 years, the quality of Chinese wine will rival that of Bordeaux. Notable wine-producing regions include Beijing, Yantai, Zhangjiakou Hebei, Yibin Sichuan, Tonghua Jilin, Taiyuan Shanxi and Ningxia.

The largest producing region is Yantai-Penglai, with its more than 140 wineries producing 40 per cent of China’s wine production. Majority of their wines sell below the USD 10 mark in the international market with few of the classics going up to USD 25. With such quality, affordability and a humongous cuisine to accompany, these wines surely have an immense potential to find inroads in the International Asian, East Asian and European restaurants.