Making good wine is one thing, selling it is quite another. China is facing this harsh reality as winery numbers and wine quality saw sharp increases this past decade but sales did not follow.
Not surprisingly, we also saw an increase in wine promotion, ranging from top-heavy official projects to wineries going it alone.
Two of these efforts – one traditional and one free-wheeling – especially symbolize efforts to boost the market.
Yinchuan represent
Yinchuan Wine Association (YWA) counts 62 wineries based in and around Ningxia's capital of Yinchuan, close to the Helan Mountains, as members. That includes some of China's best-known producers, such as Domaine Chandon, Legacy Peak, Helan Qingxue and Silver Heights.
YWA has an impressive comprehensive slate that covers education tours, trade fairs, consumer roadshows, buyer conferences and even a wine guide with James Suckling.
The education tours alone, launched during the pandemic in 2020, totaled 200 courses with 6000 attendees in 31 cities by the end of 2023. The itinerary ranged far and wide, from "tier one" stops like Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen to smaller ones like Hefei, Hohhot and Shijiazhuang, with a goal of attracting consumers who can double as ambassadors.
"There are professionals but more attendees are enthusiasts," says Zhang Xuan, YWA's secretary. "We hope they will become the main consumer group for Helan Mountain East wines in the future."
Quality wines
The course wines also regularly change as YWA rotates dozens of members to keep everyone involved. And they are good.
Shuai Zekun, who reviews Chinese, Spanish and South American wine for James Suckling, chaired a tasting of nearly 300 bottles last year to create a Yinchuan guide that featured 188 wines by 55 wineries.
"I briefed the judges on what it means to be a 90-, 92- or 95-point wine," says Shuai. "Most fell between 88 and 92 points. From 88 to 90 is a good wine we could drink a glass of and anything beyond 90 is an excellent wine."
Add those initiatives to consumer shows and trade fairs, and Zhang has seen awareness of Yinchuan wines steadily grow, with strong feedback in coastal cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou.
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