China launches pilot zone to develop premium wine in Gobi Desert

EXPOSURE TO INTERNATIONAL PREMIUM WINE MARKET

Wineries based in the wine area of Ningxia won 80 medals at the 2021 Concours Mondial De Bruxelles held in Brussels in mid June, including three grand gold medals, 43 gold medals and 34 silver medals, ranking first in the medal tally among China's wine-producing areas.

Cao He, a winemaker at Chateau Vegani in Minning, had his Matheran wine won the grand gold medal at the international competition in Belgium.

"The most interesting and fulfilling thing as a winemaker is to brew the wine you want by accurately controlling the grape plantation and brewing process, and everyone says yes after tasting it," said Cao, 33.

Founded in 2014, Vegani Winery currently boasts 500 mu of vineyards producing about 130,000 bottles of wine a year.

Compared with major international wine producers, China's modern wine industry started late, and the Helan Mountain wine area is even younger. The first bottle of wine was brewed in the desert region in 1984.

A Chinese TV drama series, depicting how grape plantation and cattle breeding were among poverty alleviation measures in Minning township, has garnered millions of views on YouTube. The Chinese drama "Shanhaiqing" goes by the English title "Minning Town."

While in a few decades, the edge of the Gobi Desert has been transformed with extending vineyards irrigated by water sourced from the Yellow River.

Currently, the coverage of vineyards in Ningxia accounts for one fourth of China's total, yielding 36 high-quality grape varieties. There are 211 wine chateaux -- completed or under construction -- with an annual output of 130 million bottles of wine, accounting for 60 percent of China-produced wines.

Chilean Ambassador to China Luis Schmidt Montes extended his congratulations on the launch of the wine pilot zone. He said that the path outlined through this initiative for the grape and wine industry in Ningxia would allow the development of this industry to compete with the most prominent wine-producing regions in the world side by side.