China and the Wine City -part 1

The traditional heart of China's wine production is Yantai, a coastal city which is in the Shandong Province, southeast of Beijing. My visit to Yantai was sponsored by Chang Yu Winery, who were large sponsors of the Yantai International Wine Festival, of which the third edition was happening during our visit. As usual, everything is larger in China - even the wine bottles!

At the opening of the Wine Festival. The third incarnation was the biggest and splashiest yet!

You thought things were bigger in Texas? Try China on for size!!

The region is very proud of this international-scale event, which was launched with no small amounts of fanfare. It is aimed primarily at the trade, rather than the buying public, but there were lots of representatives of each group there.

Very little expense spared here - dancers, music, confetti

and parachute-filled cannons, smoke and loud bangs!

Of the interesting things that we saw there was a display of some wines from Central Otago, New Zealand, and also that Chang Yu has a Chateau in New Zealand, where they make the ChangYu Kely brand of wines - a Sauvignon blanc and a Merlot. The vineyard is located in the north - Kaitaia, which is northwest one of the areas first planted with vines in New Zealand, way back in the early 1800s. The winery is Kari Kari Estate, who make a range of wines, and feature one Karl Coombes as Assistant Winemaker - he did the Graduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University in 2007! The Merlot was selling for 298RMB and the Savvie for 318RMB (at the exchange rates at the time, that equated to approximately USD44 and USD47, respectively). In New Zealand dollars, we're talking about $61 and $65, resp. per bottle! Not bad for a bottle that would retail for maybe NZD20 for the Savvie and NZD30 for the Merlot!

Bottle and packaging for ChangYu Kely Sauvignon blanc, sister to the Merlot
also sold under the brand in China.

I was pretty chuffed that the largest winery in China thought that it was worthwhile to have New Zealand wine in their portfoilio, which also favours wines from the Old World as well!!