Year of the Snake! China Wine Trends to Watch

With the Year of the Snake here, will the wine scene shed its chronic struggles? Will consumer spending get some fangs? Will Penfolds and its new China winery help tip the scales? Will these puns stop?

I covered such themes in a recent Wine-Searcher piece, including:

• Australian wine imports skyrocketed after China lifted heavy tariffs last year, although modest consumer spending meant tough sales. Eyes are especially on Penfolds and new Ningxia winery Stone & Moon to see if it can help spark a rebound.
  
• Chinese wineries are increasingly looking abroad, despite the global market’s stagnation, with ambitious young producers like Zaxee, Petit Mont and Jiangyu joining the trend. Look for a bunch to officially launch in the United States this year.
  
• Industry veterans are making major moves, including influencer Wang Shenghan aka Lady Penguin, who launched her first made-in-China wine, and Grace Vineyard, which will soon have its first gin on the market, with whiskey to follow.
  
• Regional competition is growing in China. Ningxia has had the most visibility in the local fine wine scene but Shangri-la in the south is the top contender for quality, Yili in the northwest can do quantity, too, and others like Huailai and Penglai in the east have ambitious wineries already pushing the envelope.
  
• The power of young Chinese consumers continues to rise. They tend toward lighter red wines, diverse wine styles and grape varieties, and compelling stories and innovative packaging. This will keep creating challenges for wine sales and brand loyalty, especially with a wealth of competing alcohol niches.
  
• And more, including intellectual property rights in the form of geographical indications (GIs), even as dodgy wine remains a problem in China. Case in point, the 2021 GI agreement with Europe, with a major focus on alcohol, is slated to expand this year and include 350 more products.

More details on these themes in my Wine-Searcher article.

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