The Grape Wall Press
A Regularly Updated Roundup of China Wine Stories
MARCH 2024 EDITION
“Chinese acquisitions in the Bordeaux vineyards: have their new owners really been neglecting them?”
- The Conversation: Alexandre Bohas & Pierre-Xavier Meschi
“Since 2012, more than 200 acquisitions have been made by Chinese investors in Bordeaux’s prestigious vineyards, mainly from the country’s economic, political and artistic elite…. There have been instances of Bordeaux châteaux acquired by Chinese investors, which have been left to rot by their new owners. Reportedly, around 50 of them have been also put up for sale by their once-enthusiastic owners…. However, a closer look shows that Chinese acquisitions in the Bordeaux vineyards are far from uniformly ending up in failures and selloffs.”
The full report, “In vino vanitas: Social dynamics and performance of Chinese château acquisitions in the Bordeaux vineyards”, is available here.
“China Bucks the Gen-Z Wine Trend”
- Wine Searcher: Jim Boyce
“Younger consumers in the west are increasingly indifferent to wine’s charms, but China is singing a different song.”
“Wine industry pours prosperity onto once-barren soil”
“At Yuanshi Vineyard [in Ningxia]… stones from the Gobi Desert have been paved into the buildings and roads, and wires and grape vines have been repurposed as construction materials.
“‘It’s hard to imagine that the winery used to be a mine scattered with gravel and covered in dust,’ said [founder] Yuan Hui.”
“Vineyards thrive at abandoned mining pits in NW China’s Ningxia”
“The former sites of nearly 10 large mining zones in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region have been transformed into a prosperous wine industry hub, serving as an impressive green corridor and ‘purple treasure trove’ for local communities….
“In Zhenbeibu township… where over 100 sand and gravel factories and mining sites were once scattered, more than 20 wine vineyards and 12 featured B&B hotels have sprung up, receiving 600,000 visits annually.
“Re-enter the Dragon, China is back”
- Wine Business Magazine: Anthony Madigan
“Australian winemakers will be charging their glasses with something special tonight with the news that China is letting us back in after almost four years of crippling tariffs.
“The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) released an interim draft determination about two weeks ago outlining a proposed removal of the current tariffs on Australian wine imports into China.
“Then the news late today that we were all waiting for – Beijing has dropped the tariffs.
“MOFCOM announced, “It is no longer necessary to impose anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties on the imports of the relevant wines originating in Australia.'”
“Resolution of wine dispute with China”
“The Australian Government has been notified that, from 29 March 2024, China will remove its duties on Australian bottled wine.”
“Good progress on Chinese wine, lobster trade barriers, says Australia trade minister”
- Reuters: Lewis Jackson.
“China will complete a review into years-long tariffs on Australian wine by the end of March and is also reviewing its restrictions on lobster imports, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said on Sunday.”
“Australia will ‘win’ wine dispute with China: minister”
* The Standard: Tess Ikonomou.
“‘I’m hopeful that at the end of that process, China will lift all of its tariffs on Australian wine,’ [Trade Minister Don Farrell] told Sky News on Sunday. ‘But if they don’t, then we will continue with our World Trade Organisation dispute and we will win that dispute.'”
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Visit Australia for Trade and Technology Talks”
China Briefing: Giulia Interesse.
“Scheduled for a two-day visit in the second half of March, Wang Yi’s trip arrives at a crucial time in bilateral relations between China and Australia. Following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s recent visit to China in November 2023, there have been discernible signs of improvement between the two countries.”
“Pernod comments on China’s anti-dumping enquiry”
The Spirits Business: Melita Kiely.
“Speaking to media during a roundtable in London on 6 March, Alexandre Ricard, Pernod Ricard CEO, said he would not go into the politics behind the enquiry [on European brandy], but shared a small amount of insight…
“Ricard said: ‘What can we say: at this stage, I won’t go into the politics of the initiation of the anti-dumping enquiry.
“‘The documentation they [China] have produced suggests there is an under-pricing of roughly 15% to 16%, 15.8%. We are cooperating.'”
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