Chinese viticulture hampered by high costs

(TDB) - Viticultural conditions in China make fine wine production difficult and bulk wine production expensive, according to Li Demei, vice general secretary of the China Wine Association.

Despite commenting that China “will become another big wine country” at a conference on industry trends at November’s HKTDC Wine & Spirits fair, he highlighted a number of drawbacks to growing grapes in the country.

Speaking of wine regions in the north of China, he said it was “difficult to make wine” due to hot summers and “extremely cold” winters.

Furthermore, humid conditions in early autumn can present a particular challenge for viticulturists in the country, as the combination of heat and moisture require vineyard managers to spray against rot, but, because such conditions are often close to harvest, it’s risky to use fungicides – any applications less than 30 days before picking could leave residues on the grapes which could get into the wine.

On the other hand, if vintners choose a dry area they may find it difficult to find a source of water for irrigation, according to Demei.

He also stressed that burying vines in the winter – a common practice to protect against freezing temperatures – “costs a lot”.

For these reasons, he summed up, “The quality of the vineyard cannot be as good as Bordeaux, and the cost is higher than Chile or Argentina.”

In other words, China will find it hard to compete at the very top and bottom end of the market.
When discussing current trends in Chinese domestic wine production he said that although the Ningxia wine region receives the most press coverage, it is in fact Xinjiang that is by far the biggest viticultural area, but because much of its production is sold in bulk, you rarely see the GI on labels.