China - the sleeping ice wine giant? (part 2)

And now for the continuation - How China has affected world ice wine production...

Ice wine is deliciously sweet, and due to the many things that have to go right for it to be produced (see part 1) and the low juice yield from the grapes, it is very expensive. So it is very sought after in many places, and also a target for counterfeiters. Some Niagara Peninsula producers were shocked to find that "icewine" was being sold under their brand in China.

There is, apparently, a lot of adulterated table wine being sold as icewine in China, which has a negative impact on the reputation of brands making it the right way, and therefore getting the special characteristics of the wine style that are so yummy.

However, that is not to say that all ice wine being made in China is fake! Changyu winery partnered up with a Canadian company some years ago to develop an expansive vineyard specifically for icewine production. Those Vidal vines are now coming into full production - all 5000 mu (about 333 hectares) of them (there is some confusion over the actual area planted. Some web sources say 5000 acres, but two signs I saw at Changyu say they have 5000 mu (1 mu = 0.067 ha)). The plan is to make icewine under similar conditions as required by the Canadian VQA system, and supply a quality product (Changyu Golden Valley Icewine) to the domestic market.

Changyu Golden Valley Icewine bottles on display at the Yantai International Wine Festival. These are the Golden Diamond wines. There are also two higher price point labels, the Blue Diamond and the Black Diamond ones. Prices for 500ml bottles were 228RMB, 418RMB and 838RMB, respectively. This translated into approximately USD33, 60 and 120, resp.

Some information about the icewine vineyard development. Picture taken in the Changyu Wine Museum, in Yantai, Shandong Province.

The location was chosen so that conditions for quality icewine production would be met most every year, and because the scale is so massive, that means a lot of wine can be produced!

A photo of a photo of the vineyard in Huanren - appropriately icy! Picture taken in the Changyu Wine Museum.

Even considering this is all in China, I still wonder about where they will get all the labour to tend the vines and harvest the fruit!

A photo of a photo of a "Hardworking farmers harvesting grapes in coldness." Picture taken in the Changyu Wine Museum.

And since China does things big, just how significant is this planting in Huanren? In 2008, about 6500 tonnes of grapes were registered for icewine production in the Niagara Peninsula. The Changyu development should produce about 1000 tonnes of grapes (significantly more come from vineyards other than theirs). So a significant boost. Even more significant when the latest info says that only 1750 tonnes were registered to be made into icewine for the 2009 vintage, due to a downturn in the icewine market.

While I'm not a huge fan of the wine style (too sweet for me, generally), it certainly has, and deserves, a place in the market, and is also a good reminder of how versatile a product the grape is!

NB, you might be interested in reading this article, which has more detail on the plantings in Huanren...