Wine in China
China is a major wine market with ancient roots and modern growth.
Wine, known in Chinese as pútáojiǔ or "grape alcohol," has a long history in China but was long overshadowed by huangjiu and baijiu. Since the reform and opening up of the 1980s, wine consumption has grown dramatically, and China is now among the top ten global wine markets. Ties with French producers are especially strong, and wines from Ningxia have received international recognition.
History
Grape seeds were also found. If grape wine was consumed in Bronze Age China, it was later replaced by beverages made from sorghum, millet, rice, and fruits such as lychee or Asian plum. In the 130s and 120s BC, Han dynasty envoy Zhang Qian opened relations with Central Asian kingdoms that produced grape wine. By the end of the second century BC, grape seeds from the kingdom of Dayuan (Ferghana) were planted near Chang'an. The Shennong Bencao Jing, a late Han medical text, states grapes could be used for wine. In the Three Kingdoms era, Wei emperor Cao Pi noted grape wine was sweeter than cereal wines and easier to recover from. Grapes continued to be grown, especially in Gansu, but large-scale wine production did not occur.
Production
French wines were the first foreign wines to enter China. For its first two decades, most of its output was exported because local incomes were too low. China has a very old history of fermenting and distilling alcoholic drinks, but it is a newcomer to the global wine trade. Chinese grape wine has recently started showing up on store shelves in California and western Canada. Some critics dismiss it the way they once dismissed wines from Chile and Australia, while others see a promising new frontier with interesting possibilities. Some simply note that China now makes drinkable table wines comparable to those from other nations. Organic wine is now being produced in Inner Mongolia.
Consumption
China is among the top ten wine markets globally. The United States remains the largest market for all wine types. Most medium to large restaurants sell wine by the bottle, usually only red; high-end restaurants serve wine by the glass. Wine is also available at large KTV establishments and major hotels. Wines are also sold through online shops and platforms, including sweetened, flavoured wines with about 6% alcohol.
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