Ambitions uncorked for China wine clout

China is already on its way to becoming a major wine nation, and the future of wine production in China will be "bright and extremely dynamic", according to the CEO of a major French wine estate.

"China is no doubt already a major producer and market of consumption for fine wines," said Jean-Guillaume Prats, CEO of Chateau Lafite Rothschild.

His comment came as a team of three Sichuan International Studies University students beat rivals from the world's top universities to win the Left Bank Bordeaux Cup for the first time. The competition is a prestigious international wine tasting contest for college students.

The Left Bank Bordeaux Cup was introduced in 2002 by Commanderie du Bontemps, one of the oldest and biggest French wine appreciation guilds. It was a national event for wine societies in France before it was introduced to the world in 2011.

After qualifying rounds on different continents each year, the final round will bring eight teams together to compete in the prestigious cellars of Chateau Lafite Rothschild. However, due to the pandemic, the competition was held virtually this year.

"From a commercial point of view, China is already a master wine country, and since a few years ago, it has become a major, or even the most important market, for Bordeaux wines in the world," said Emmanuel Cruse, world grandmaster of Commanderie du Bontemps who led the judging team.

Tremendous evolution

Cruse, who has been dealing with the Chinese market since 1995, said it is a tremendous evolution in the market and he thinks that the best is yet to come for China's potential in wines.

Fan Lina, a Chinese member of Commanderie du Bontemps and a Bordeaux-based senior chateau mergers and acquisitions adviser, said the scale and potential of the Chinese market has made many leading winemakers place a strong focus on the highly promising market.

"The excellent performance of the Chinese team shows the world a fresh image of the younger generation in China," Fan said.

With a long-standing history in China, wine has been produced since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220). Today, drinking wine, especially imported fine wine, is seen by some as a symbol of social status.

Last year, around 1.24 billion liters of wine were consumed in China, making it the sixth-largest wine consumer worldwide and the fifth-largest global wine importer, with its import value amounting to 1.6 billion euros ($1.88 billion), according to Statista, a German market and consumer data company.

Rodolphe Lameyse, CEO of wine and spirits events organizer Vinexposium, said the cultivation of young Chinese consumers has contributed to wine development in the country.

"We have witnessed through our different events in Asia that a new generation of young Chinese consumers has emerged and they are particularly eager to learn more about wine," he said.