Authors: Zhang Jing, Dong Lingyi
Source: BWZ News
It all started with Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, during which he brought his own wine.
▲ February, 1972. President Nixon’s visit to China. He brought dry red wine from the US to celebrate the normalisation of the relations between China and the US.
At that time, the PRC was only able to produce the alleged “half-juice” wine (Translator’s note: an alcoholic beverage not made of 100% fermented grape juice, but by adding alcohol, food colouring and sugar into grape juice. This kind of “wine” was banned in China in 2004) and sweet wine, and had to rely on the import for the dry red wine used for receptions of foreign guests.
In order to connect with the world, China had to produce its own wine.
To resolve the technical problem of wine production, the Ministry of light Industry founded a research group of wine production in 1978 - the first year of the Reform and Opening.
By the introduction of foreign varieties of grapes and non-stop research and experiments, Chinese wine making technique started to catch up with the international level.
After five years of the researchers’ hard work, the first bottle of Chinese dry red wine was made in Changli, Hebei.
▲ After the research and experiments, the first bottle of Chinese dry red wine was made in Changli, Hebei.
“Beidaihe” dry red wine filled the gap of the Chinese wine industry and put the industry on a new journey.
▲ China’s first dry red wine, dry white wine and sparkling wine.
Since then, China saw a boost in its wine industry, both the volume and the quality of the wine production went through a rapid development.
Located in the best wine-growing area at a latitude of 39° N, Changli has a sunshine, a soil and a diurnal temperature variation similar to those of Bordeaux, the world-famous wine producing region. This made Changli one of the best producing regions in the world.
Nowadays, Changli continues to expand its dry wine production, making it a quarter of the whole country’s production. Therefore, Changli is honoured as the “Chinese dry red wine city” and “Bordeaux in the East”.
▲ November, 2014. Changli’s “Great Wall Dry Red Wine” and “Great Wall Dry White Wine” were provided during the APEC welcoming dinner.
Stepping into the Grape Town
The Changli wine is getting more and more famous.
The other day, we came to Changli to reveal the story of this little town of dry red wine.
▲ Photographer:Guo Shasha, China Pictorial
Our first stop was Qinhuangdao Jinshi International Winery (Chateau Kings)
Invested by Tasly Holding Group Co. Ltd with a planned investment of 674 million CNY, the Chateau occupies an area of 674 Mu (Translator’s note: about 45 hectares) with a total gross floor area (GFA) of 96,000 m2. Stepping into the chateau is like stepping into a little eco-city - we were deeply impressed by the environment of the domain.
▲ Surrounding environment of the Chateau.
Photographer: Guo Shasha, China Pictorial
▲ The vineyard in the Chateau.
Photographer:Guo Shasha, China Pictorial
Apart from the wine production, the Chateau also exploits multiple services such as holiday, entertainment, health care, et cetera, in order to utilise all dimensions of the wine culture within the Chateau. Here, one can experience the joy of the vintage, as well as the knowledge of art and culture in the wine museum.
After a walk under the meandering stone tunnel, we arrived at our second stop: COFCO Huaxia Great Wall Wine Co., Ltd. Focusing on the trademark “Great Wall”, this company owns Asia’s largest granite wine cellar covering 19,000 m2 of area. In this cellar, the temperature variation is minimum and the humidity is nice. This condition facilitates the fermentation of high-end, especially chateau wine.
Under the soft light, more than 17,000 barrels are lying in wine cellar. ▼
▲ Photographer:Guo Shasha, China Pictorial
The wine preservation using oak barrels has a history of several thousand years.
When oak barrels are used for the wine storage, some tannins (a kind of phenol found in wine) and other fragrant substances of the wood are dissolved into the wine, which gives the wine a thicker fragrance.
Meanwhile, the wine itself goes through the fermentation. After a certain period of time, both the taste and the fragrance of the wine get better.
Plan of Development
The Changli wine industry has created numerous “first”. Here, the first dry red wine winery was invested, the first family chateau was constructed, the first PDO wine product (Translator’s note: it’s apparently the Chinese "Protected Designation of Origin" norm, not the international/French “Appellation d'origine controlée” norm) was created, the first research centre was founded, the first national grapevine and wine quality inspection centre was created…
All urban development is not without obstacle. Changli is also facing bottlenecks and difficulties in its development.
Because of the high land cost of the coastal area, the competition with imported wine and the general stagnancy of the domestic market, the traditional business model of the Changli wine industry is under impact.
The key to success is the adjustment of operation model.
The Province of Hebei realises that to make the Qinhuangdao wine industry bigger and stronger, and to make its own characteristics, it is necessary to highlight the consciousness, thinking and know-how of innovation, to win the competition in a different way, to combine the development of the wine industry with the unique urban positioning of Qinhuangdao and to combine the wine with the internationally renowned coastal tourist city and the country's first life health industry innovation demonstration zone.
On April 30, 2015, the “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Collaborative Development Plan” was approved. The introduction of this plan has profoundly changed the external environment for the development of the Qinhuangdao region, including Changli.
According to the plan, the entire Qinhuangdao area will create a “Big Beidaihe District” which shares the capital’s administrative, educational and medical functions, a Beijing-Qinhuangdao high-tech industrial cooperation development demonstration zone and a Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coastal high-end business district.
In the meantime, Changli County, which focuses on the development of the wine industry, has also established a new idea for the development of the wine industry in the new era:
Leading the transformation and upgrade of Changli wine industry in the new era with global tourism tide; constructing a new industry system of “red wine + big tourism + big health”; encouraging the investment of large enterprise groups such as COFCO Huaxia, Guizhou Maotai and Tianjin Tasly Group by focusing on major project investments and management innovations; creating wine production models and consumer culture compatible with the international standards but also with Changli characteristics.
While adhering to the green development principle, Changli County has also received gifts from the nature.
Today's Changli is pleasing to the eye, surrounded by green hills and trees. From Changli’s experience of developing the healthy mountain tourism economy by focusing on the red wine holiday model, we have seen a new direction of urban eco-development.
After presenting the history of the wine, we will show you the best ways to taste a glass of wine:
Holding the glass:
X: Do not hold the bowl of the glass: this will heat up the wine and affect the taste.
V: Hold the stem of the glass with fingers and never touch the bowl.
Tasting the wine:
1. Look. Look from the above of the glass (preferably with a white background colour). The more transparent the wine is, the better its quality is.
2. Swirl. Swirl the wine around the glass and observe the speed of the wine dripping down the glass. Slower it flows, better is its quality. After the swirl action, there will be a clear ring of liquid between the wine’s surface and the glass (which is called “the tears of the beauty”. The wider the ring is, the better the quality is.
3. Sniff. Breathe some fresh outdoor air before sniffing the wine.
Tilt your glass at 45 degrees to your nose and sniff the wine whilst keeping your nose in the glass.
There are usually three layers of fragrance: the fruity flavour, the oak barrel’s smell and the wine’s flavour.
4. Taste. Take a sip of wine and make it spin around in your mouth.
Spit it out or swallow it, and feel the aftertaste.
If you are trying different kinds of wine, remember to rinse you mouth with some water between each two of them.
Preserving the wine:
Use deep-coloured bottle: the UV rays of the sunlight can penetrate the glass and speed up the oxidation of the wine. Deep-coloured glass keeps out the UV rays and reduces the impact of the sunlight on the wine, making the wine’s quality more stable.
Preserve the wine under 12-13 ˚C. This is the best temperature for wines, which slows down the aging of the wine. Therefore, the wine should be preserved in shady and cool places.
Keep the wine flatwise or upside-down. Keeping the wine flatwise allows the contact between the wine and the cork, which prevents the cork from cracking; keeping the wine upside-down allows the precipitates of the wine to stick to the cork, in order to prevent the it from interfering with the taste of the wine.
Keep the wine steady. Any big shake of the wine harms to the preservation of the wine and accelerates the oxidation and precipitation. Therefore, the wine should be kept in cool places without any shake.