Some recent stories about the China wine scene…
Chinese oak: Knock on wood
Wines and Vines reports that a Spanish cooperage is selling Chinese oak to European wineries:
Seasoned winemakers who once turned up their noses at oak grown outside the famous forests of France have grown to accept, and even sing the praises of, oak from the Americas, Russia, Hungary and Romania. Now, TonelerÃa Magreñán, a cooperage from La Rioja, Spain, has partnered with a supplier in China to introduce barrels made from Quercus mongolicus, or Chinese oak, and more than two dozen European wineries already have jumped on the bandwagon.
According to the article, Antonio Magreñán bought about “40,000 barrels worth of standing trees” in Inner Mongolia in 2005, and “cured the oak and aged it for 36 months in the yard of his property in La Rioja.” Wineries in Spain, Italy, France, and the United States are using the barrels either for experimentation or commercial production.
A company rep “said that wines aged in Chinese oak barrels have been described as smoky, low in tannins and having exotic notes in the nose, as well as a creamy mouthfeel. The oak itself has a toasty, almost bacony quality, some users say. ” See the full article.
Bodega Langes, a winery founded in Hebei province nearly a decade ago by Gernot Swarovski, is well-known for using Chinese oak.
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NBA wine: China, we have liftoff
The owner of the Houston Rockets, the NBA team that features Chinese basketball star Yao Ming at center, has made a deal with local company Topchoice Faniya to sell wines from his New York operation, reports a Texan TV station. He is reported as saying that all future vintages will be distributed in China, starting with the 2007 release.
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Italy looks East: It worked for Marco Polo
According to this Reuters report, Italy sees China as a hot new destination for wine exports:
Only a couple of years ago producers from Tuscany, the wine heart of Italy, used to say China was not mature enough to embrace their top quality labels.
Now, with recession hovering over their main markets in Europe and the United States, makers of premium Italian wines are turning to China where wine is becoming increasingly popular and the newly rich easily splash out on a top-price bottle.
What I found interesting is this part:
The French and other major wine producers have been faster than Italians in realizing the huge growth potential of the Chinese market. The competition is fierce for carving out market niches, Mugnaioli said.
I would rewrite it to say Italians have realized the potential of this market, but haven’t capitalized on it. The French and Australians have done a much better job in this respect.
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