From wilderness to winery

Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui autonomous region in Northwest China, is one of the country's driest areas, but has achieved a global reputation for producing fine wine.

The Helan Mountain East Foothill International Wine Expo was held from Sept 8-9. Sixty-one varieties of wine were nominated for the annual Helan Mountain Wine award, and six won the golden prize, judged by some of the best palates from Decanter wine magazine in Hong Kong.

Apart from the golden winners, a selection of 440 wines from 102 of Ningxia's own wineries, including 22 award-winning varieties, were presented at the expo. The event attracted hundreds of guests from the wine business and press from all around the world.

"I think the wines from this region are equal to the best in the world, given the competitions that they are winning around the globe," said Robert Hirst, chairman of Fine Wine Partners and winner of the Legend of the Vine Award.

With 60 percent of its land being desert, Ningxia has achieved something astonishing in wine production.

After three decades of effort since 1984, the previously inhospitable land of sand has now been turned into China's Saint-Emilion and Napa Valley. It is home to more than 180 wineries, providing plenty of job opportunities to both local and migrant laborers and creating a 16.6 billion yuan ($2.49 billion) annual output value.

The east foothill of Helan in the city of Yinchuan is now regarded as one of the best and most promising vineyard regions for quality grapes. However, as a young emerging industry, Ningxia still has a long way to go before it catches up with the international wine giants.

"I think it's a young industry here, but it is growing all the time," said Hirst. "In Australia, we have 100 years of history. France and Italy have 1,000 years of history making wine. One part of making quality wine is having vines of old ages to help you. It's very new here and it will take years."

Ma Huiqin, the professor of Fruit Tree Science at China Agricultural University, also pointed out that the Wine Expo has opened up a window for the world to learn about Chinese wine. She added that it is important for Chinese wine makers to stay innovative to make their names heard internationally.

"Simply copying from the Western Hemisphere is not enough," she said. "We need to build from our situation and create drinks with our own character."

In the last five years, wineries from Ningxia have won more than 230 awards and produced 100 million bottles in 2015 alone.

According to Ningxia Helan Mountain East Foothill Winery Management Bureau, Ningxia is expecting to expand its total vineyard area to 47,000 hectares at the end of 2020, to double its annual productivity and to increase the number of wineries to 300.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/13/2016 page22)