Helan Qingxue winery

Helan Qingxue winery is a typical winery, which has perfect terroir, climate and sunshine that is located in Donglu area of Helan Mountain, the one of most famous Chinese appellation in Ningxia province.

Helan Qingxue is a beautiful name, some people may think that the name is too long, however it can be divided into two parts, the first part is Helan, which is the name of a mountain; and the second part is Qingxue, which is one of the eight most famous historical sights in this area. To be more specific, Qingxue means in summer, even the temperature is high you can also catch the sight of snow covering on the Helan Mountain. But now, because of the global warming, we have not seen this sight for decades years. Fortunately, Helan Qingxue winery maintains this nature wonder, and people will feel the charm of nature from Jiabei Lan red wine. In particular, this red wine was awarded “international special prize” in Decanter wine testing of 2011. Their other products include Jiabei Lan Grand Reserve 2009, Jiabei Lan Carbernet Sauvignon, Jiabei Lan Merlot, Jiabei Lan Rose, and Jiabei Lan Dry White.

Helan Qingxue winery established in 2005, which introduces 16 grapes variety from France and other countries. It is not a mass manufacture since the vineyard surface is 13 hectares, and yield is 50, 000 bottle/year. But they focus on develop wine culture in China. For instance, they established a wine culture center in their winery to promote this appellation or Chinese wine for people who are interested in it. They also have their own wine research center for improving the technology in making wine. These are the reasons of why Helan Qingxue has been a competitive brand in both China and international market.

Thanks Miss ZHANG (wine maker) answer this question:

Q : As we know, Jiabei Lan has updates to the new packaging, can you introduce more details about it, and what is your product classification in the future?

A : It is a very significant year for Helan Qingxue winery and Jiabei Lan in 2012. In this year, we have re-divided and re-positioned our products, ‘Jiabei Lan 2009’ which awarded the top Decanter World Wine Awards 2011, has been officially renamed as 'Jiabei Lan special collection of day red wine 2009’, which is also the first class wine in the winery. The other two series are ‘Jiabei Lan’ and ‘Helan Qingxue’.

We have designed the new packaging for ‘Jiabei Lan special collection’: replaced by a heavy duty bottle to reflect the ‘Jiabei Lan’ heavy feeling; keep the Helan Qingxue winery complete picture at the bottom of the wine label; the label is embossment printing in order to highlight ‘Jiabei Lan’, ‘special collection’ and ‘Helan Qingxue winery’; Plastic cap was converted to a tin cap; and Decanter contest organizing committee also sent the "Decanter" Gold label…The overall design was simple, yet the atmosphere, which can reflect the value of this remarkable wine.

Chateau Rongzi

Maybe you do not know this chateau but when we talk about PETRUS and its ex-winemaker Mr Jean -Claude Berrouet  you must heard of someting. Yes! After he retired from Petrus he went to China and help CHATEAU RONGZI to make their wine . So today we will introduce to you CHATEAU RONGZI and a interview with their winemaker Mr Miao Chengpeng.

Q1: What is your major challenge right now ?

A:Our chateau just founded in 2007 so the problem is the short age of vine ,we have to wait for a long time till the vine get a high quality .

Q2:You hired Mr Jean -Claude Berrouet to be your winemakers ,and also you buy a lot of the High tech equipments such as Optic sorting Delta Vistalys .So between the experience and High tech which is more important?

A :You know for the wine ,the grape's quality is the most important factor ,without a good raw material  no one can make the excellent wine . But when we blend the wine .Mr berroute`s experience is very useful,those advices are beyond High tech.

3 Mr Jean-Claude Berrouet  take in charge of blend ?And what is his opinion of your wine ?

A :Yes , he come to our chateau 4times each year. And he give us a lot of advices of making wines and viticulture .He thought our wine got a good potential .In the future CHATEAU RONGZI  will be a exellent product which can represente Shanxi .

Grace Vineyard

Grace Vineyard was founded in 1997, by Mr.Chen and his French friend Gylvain Janvier. The vineyard is located in Shanxi province in middle-east of china, where is known for its coal production. The surface of the vineyard is 120 ha. In 2001, when the vineyard was 4 years old, they produced the first brew of wines.

The land of Grace Vineyard is composed of sandy soil. The climate is dry, and there is a great difference of temperature between day and night. It doesn’t rain often in summer and the sunshine is strong. The grape varieties are cabernet sauvignon, cabernet blanc, pinot noir, shiraz, chardonny and Riesling. The production is 1.5-2.0 million bottles per year, which is not huge to china, therefore Grace Vineyard focuses on the quality of the wine, which make this brand famous in china. Its name appears often in foreign magazines as Spectator and it’s recommended by many experts as Jancis Robinson.

CHEN Fang, CEO of the Grace Vineyard since 2002, was only 24 years old when he took charge of the vineyard. Last week we had an opportunity to interview CHEN Fang through Weibo. Let’s know more about Grace Vineyard.

 

Q: I heard that your first year brewed wine has won a great reputation.  Were there some French professionals involved in?

A: Yes, from the origins selecting, and nursery importing, to planting and producing, we have been sincerely cooperated with French experts for the foundation and the future development of the brand ‘Yiyuan’. We’ve also sent our employees to France, Australia to visit and study. We focus on the brand building, which needs a convincing history and stories, instead of commercial marketing. Otherwise it is really difficult to make your own taste and make it standing out. Fortunately, we began this project just when Chinese economy was taking off. Since the people’s income has risen, they talk more about the taste and way of life, and they are able to pursuit a life of higher quality.

Q: What’s the competitive edge of your winery brand?

A: It is the quality. I am very confident of my product, because “our family honor is written in the brand”, and I put my daughter’s name in the label. Me my family and every member of the group have the responsibility to make great quality wines.

I can give you an example: in 2007, the yield decreased due to the weather, we did not make even one bottle of wine, and we announced sincerely to our clients. At that time, if I did not to follow the wine making rules as most of the wine merchants, stick any label on the bottle, it can be sold well as any bottle of wine. But we chose not to do this, and to take the ‘no income’ consequence ourselves. The brand’s quality and reputation is the most valuable thing to us.