Will China Dominate The Wine Industry Too?

China’s wine industry has exploded in recent years, with the number of wineries more than doubling over the past decade, propelling the country past Australia to become the world’s 7th-largest producer.

What is driving this fast-paced growth and is the quality of Chinese wine improving?

“They make wine in China?!” is the most common reaction we get outside of the region, even from people in the trade. People who have been to China and tried local wine are not impressed with the most common brands. Indeed, the first time a Chinese wine took home Decanter magazine’s international trophy in 2011, the news was met with shock and skepticism.

But, as Beijing-based wine blogger Jim Boyce points out, Chinese wines have performed well in international competitions and in the tasting notes of prominent critics for years. Regular tasting reports by Jancis Robinson, a leading British wine critic, tell a story of vast improvements in quality, and in 2014, China was mapped for the first time in the World Atlas of Wine.


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