So it might be time for the Chinese to start getting a taste of their own medicine as it were…or trusting their own vineyards to produce good enough wines for them to drink. Indeed, according to Jancis Robinson, a world-renowned wine authority, the Chinese have been making enormous strides in the field over the last ten years or so. Although the Chinese are still very much enjoying and looking for fine wines from other countries, it could be possible that their own wines are really stepping up. This shouldn’t be too surprising since numbers now show that China is among the top five grapevine growers in the world!
Things have definitely come a long way for China and wine. As Robinson pointed out, when she first began seeking out fine wines in the country – back in 2002 – she didn’t exactly leave inspired, to put it mildly. But just in 2010, she felt “heartened” having tasted various wines from the region that were “quite respectable.” However, still only a very small portion of the country’s wines falls into this category; the vast majority of China’s wines is somewhat acidic and thin, and not impressive at all despite the country’s ripe, clean and fruity grapes. Robinson is extremely qualified to make this judgment since she is one of only approximately 300 Masters of Wine in the world, according to the Institute of Masters of Wine.
So, it remains to be seen whether China will work hard at what appears to be a not-so-bad start and try to really make a go of things in the fine wine industry, or, whether it will continue to rely on imports from the west to satisfy its palettes. Currently it looks like the latter may win out since its imports from regions such as Australia, France, Italy and South America, increased 57 percent from January to September of this year. Europe seems to be the overall popular hive for wine imports to China.
Clearly it becomes a bit of a chicken and egg situation. The more China imports, the less likely it will be that individuals will be driven to develop their own wine to try to compete with these.