Wine region in Ningxia developing global fame

Dozens of winemakers from 18 renowned wine producing countries are eagerly awaiting a competition on Tuesday for wines made from grapes grown in a very promising region of China.

For the past two years, 48 international experts have brought winemaking philosophies and techniques from both the new and old worlds of wine, like South Africa and Italy, to the emerging wine region, the Eastern Foothills of the Helan Mountains in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Each has received a 3-hectare parcel and been paired with a local winery to produce a cabernet. A total of 700,000 yuan ($105,000) in prizes is up for grabs in the Ningxia-sponsored competition.