Vinitaly International and China’s Ningxia join forces

Vinitaly International and Ningxia Wine Bureau, the official wine body in China’s northwestern premium wine region, have agreed to join forces to promote high quality Italian wines in China and to roll out educational courses on Italian wine.

The partnership was formed after Vinitaly International welcomed delegates from Ningxia Wine Bureau at its headquarters Wine2Digital in Verona, Italy and facilitated meetings with VeronaFiere and various wineries around the area earlier in June. 

Known as the “Bordeaux” of China, Ningxia has grown to be a leading wine region in the country, mainly making Bordeaux blends. In the past seven years, the number of wineries have grown from 20 to 80, according to Vinitaly and most of the wines are made from Helan Mount range.

“We are extremely honoured to strengthen our relationship. Vinitaly International has showed continuous commitment not only to the Chinese market but also to embracing the wine producers of China. We will have many occasions to work together, especially to elevate the level of Italian wine education and introduce more of Italy’s high quality wines”, commented Jianjun Feng, deputy director general of the Ningxia Wine Bureau.

Last December, Stevie Kim, managing director of Vinitaly International, also visited Ningxia and eight of the wineries in the region. In addition, Ningxia Wine Bureau organised a stand at Vinitaly, marking its first ever participation at an international wine fair.

During Vinitaly 2017, Ian D’Agata, scientific director of Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) and Jinglin Zhang, a VIA certified Italian wine expert held a masterclass on Ningxia wines, showcasing the diversity and potential of the region’s red, white, and sparkling wines, along with the famous Bordeaux blend style reds.