Chinese desert Bordeaux

By
Frank Sieren

Nowhere else in the world are vineyards growing faster than in China. Since the 1980ies, the most important growing region is located in Ningxia, western China, the country’s smallest province at the eastern edge of the Gobi desert. More than 200 vineyards are located here. Approximately 100 producers press 130 130 million bottles per year – about a quarter of the country’s total output. The climatic conditions are similar to the arid, sunny weather of Bordeaux in France. Only the winters can be hard, which sometimes causes the harvest to suffer. Still, traditional foreign companies are meanwhile cultivating on the mineral-rich soil, among them being French producers like Pernod Ricard, Moët Chandon, the Spanish Torres producer, or the Australian Jacobs Creek producer.