Ningxia: the next big thing in China?

Ningxia in northwestern China has further strengthened its reputation as the country’s premier wine region, with its winemakers taking home a total of 32 awards at the 2016 Asia Wine Trophy competition.

Vinyard in Ningxia

Held during Korea’s Daejeon International Wine & Sprits Fair, the competition sees 4,000 wines compete for the competition’s top prize, reports official Chinese news Ningxia Daily, which was won by a Shiraz from Ningxia.

The wine – Ningxia Hedong winery’s Shiraz – won the competition’s Grand Gold, an award given to wines that scored 92 points or above by a panel of 140 judges from 30 different countries. Altogether 17 wineries from the region won 32 prizes.

This is the latest validation for Ningxia winemakers who have grown more ambitious in recent years producing increasingly higher quality wines. Wines made from the region are mostly Bordeaux-style blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with lesser-known grapes like Cabernet Gernischt, the Chinese equivalent of Camenere, also common.

Winemakers’ international ambitions have been emboldened by the support of its local government, which since 1998 has recognised the region’s winemaking industry as one of its the six key pillars.

Local government saw the planting of vineyards in the region as a way of pushing back against further desertification, with the wine industry prompting the development of a chain of complementary industries such as tourism, packaging and logistics, writes RVF China.

Today, in the region’s main winemaking area of Helan Mountains East, there are more than 70 wineries with vineyards stretching over some 500,000 mu (about 33,333 hectares), bringing its wine production to 300,000 tonnes, according to the report.