Economy

Icewine is a drink coming in from the cold

By Yu Ran (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-26 10:02

Wine at a superstore in Nantong city, Jiangsu province. China's consumption of wine is expected to increase as the standard of living rises. [Photo / China Daily]

SHANGHAI - China is expected to become the sixth largest global wine importer by 2013 at the latest, said Wu Jianhua, the secretary-general of the Shanghai Drinks Association.

The demand for wine for official activities and business events has risen in tandem with the rising standard of living in China.

"The expansion of the expatriate population and consumers returning from overseas, as well as the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures, has increased local consumers' interest in drinking wine," said Wu at a promotional event in Shanghai on Thursday.

Currently, China consumes an annual average of 1 liter of wine for each person, up from 300 milliliters five years ago.

The country's wine industry produced 1.09 billion liters in 2010, an increase of 12 percent compared with the previous year. "We're expecting the wine market in China to expand to a point where domestic and imported wines have an equal share within three to five years," said Wu.

The main product at the event, icewine - made from grapes which have been left on the vine and then harvested in the dead of winter - is produced in most Canadian wine-making regions, and is a major export for the North American country. The biggest importers are Asian countries, such as China and Japan.

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"More than 80 percent of Canadian agriculture-related products, including icewine, are exported all over the world," said Nadir Patel, the Canadian Consul General in Shanghai.

Icewine is naturally made with no artificial freezing and the grapes are harvested entirely by hand.

Ontario and British Columbia are the two main icewine-producing provinces, and are authorized by the Vintners' Quality Alliance, the regulatory and appellation system that guarantees the quality and authenticity of Canadian wines.

There are now 11 companies, representing 12 brands, in Shanghai distributing these icewines, a rise from the four distributors in the country in 2008. The wine is produced, sealed and labeled in Canada before being transported to China.

"Although icewine was introduced in China a dozen years ago, it will still take a long time for local consumers to know and accept the product," said Julia Zhu, head sommelier at the Hilton Beijing.

According to official statistics provided by the Agriculture Food Team at the Canadian Consulate General, the value of icewine imports to China reached $3.64 million in 2010, an increase of 81 percent compared with the previous year.