
WELCOME to PREMIER WINE REGION of CHINA
Ningxia wines, produced in the Chinese province of Ningxia, are rapidly gaining an international reputation. In recent blind wine-tasting competitions, the Ningxia wines have done better than Bordeaux Wines in the same price bracket.
On 17 May 2011 in London, the Decanter trophy for red wine from the Middle East, Far East and Asia went to a 2009 Bordeaux blend from Ningxia province called Jiabeilan from the China Chateau Helan Qingxue winery. The same winery also won a silver medal for its Classic Chardonnay 2008 and a bronze for its Premium Collection Riesling. The winemaker was Li Demei, a wine consultant to six Chinese wineries and a lecturer at the Beijing University of Agriculture. He completed his studies at Enita de Bordeaux in 2001.
On 14 December 2011 in Beijing, in a competition tagged "Bordeaux against Ningxia", experts from China and France tasted five wines from each region. Ningxia was the clear winner with four out of five of the top wines. The best of all was the 2009 Chairman's Reserve, a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Grace Vinyards.
Nathalie Sibille, a Bordeaux expert, said the Chinese wines had "performed very, very well", adding, "this region has enormous potential".
According to data from British consulting firm International Wine and Spirit Research, China's wine consumption has doubled over the past five years and is currently the world's seventh-largest consumer in terms of volume. It is expected to become the world's top wine consumer within the next 20 years.