Chinese wine takes European stage

An international Chinese wine brand could become a reality sooner than one may think. Noble Dragon from the Shandong region in China has already been flying from the shelves in key test markets, has sold over 80,000 bottles in a four week promotion in ‘Plus’ retail chain in The Netherlands and is attracting buyer interest in the UK where it is distributed by Bibendum.

The wine is a result of a joint venture involving Austria’s Laurenz Five Fine Wine (importer), China’s Changyu Pioneer Wine Company (owner), and Bibendum. The brand currently consists of a white blend containing Chardonnay, Riesling and Muscat and a red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Chinese varietal Dragon’s Eye, and is priced at £6.99 and listed in a handful of bars and restaurants in Britain.

However, Laurenz Five’s Laurenz Moser insinuated the UK could soon see the wine in the mainstream off-trade. Having admitted he’d been in talks with Tesco he said “I think the off-trade will go wild.” A different label will be developed for the UK multiple retail sector. As for supplying volumes, this should prove no problem for the Changyu Pioneer Wine Company with a 6 million-case capacity winery and its own glass factory.

Finally, in an interesting twist, China could also become a major supplier of ice wine. According to Moser, six years ago a Canadian found the perfect site for producing ice wine and planted 350 hectares of Vidal. Changyu are making a wine from these vineyards, known as the Golden Ice Wine Valley, and have produced a three-tier brand, with an entry-level Golden Diamond, followed by Blue Diamond and small volumes of Black Diamond. “Nobody else but Inniskillin is doing a professional job on ice wine in the international arena,” said Moser who will begin importing the ice wine this summer. Current production is already 500,000 half-bottles but will shortly double to 1m.

© db 28 March 2007