The third edition of the Chinese wine guidebook Overview of Wine in China, which is billed as the most comprehensive book on Chinese wine, is debuting its first-ever English version.
The book is said to be the world’s “first most comprehensive and systematic” Chinese wine guide, according to Chinese media reports. The upcoming edition is exclusively drafted by “father of modern Chinese wine” Li Hua in English and published by the EDP Sciences in France.
The book aims to provide a useful guide for consumers and tourists, and a valuable encyclopedia and database for wine industry players eyeing the China market.
Consists of 23 chapters, it covers China’s winemaking history, winegrowing regions, grape varieties, viticulture, management, wine services, wine education and scientific research, legislation and more.
Based on the previous Chinese versions published in 2015 and 2019, the English version has added the most up-to-date data on China’s wine industry, dynamics of the wine regions and new wineries.
In terms of winegrowing regions, the authors have scientifically identified 13 major appellations and their sub-regions with introduction on their terroir, grape varieties, soils, climate and vineyards. The book has also collected about 200 representative Chinese wineries and delved into their history, culture, vineyards, style, brands and marketing strategies.
Behind the extensive guidebook is the 35-year research efforts by Professors Li Hua and Wang Hua.
Renowned as “father of modern Chinese wine”, Li Hua is one of China’s most powerful oenologists and professor. He is the founder of China’s first viticulture and oenology school and is a lifetime honorary dean of Northwest A&F University’s viticulture and enology department. Having spent nearly 40 years modernizing winemaking in China, he is now the country’s most vocal advocate for natural wine development.
Wang Hua is the co-author of the previous Chinese editions. Wang is a professor, doctoral supervisor and the former dean of Northwest A&F University’s viticulture and enology department. She is currently the curator of China Wine Museum of Northwest A&F University.
Having taught, researched and promoted Chinese wine collaboratively for years, the duo broke the myth of “China is not suitable for the production of high-quality wine grape”’.
The English edition of “Overview of Wine in China” is expected to demonstrate Chinese winemakers’ confidence, and to shed a light on Chinese wine’s important contribution and status in the wine world.
China has equipped itself to become one of the fastest growing wine markets in the past 30 years. From Li Peng’s championing of wine in the 1990s to President Xi Jinping’s visit to Ningxia in June last year, the central and local governments have been actively boosting domestic wine production by backing the development of vineyards.
Last August, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology abolished a set of regulations that required companies to meet strict requirements to set up wineries. President Xi Jinping also called for resolute measures to strengthen the ecological conservation of the Helan Mountains during his visit to a vineyard in Yinchuan the same month.
Although China’s wine production recorded a record low in 2019, a report released in April by OIV shows China is ranked as sixth biggest market in global wine consumption and tenth in production by liters.
China’s wine market size is forecasted to expand further to US$18 billion by 2023, up from US$14.8 billion in 2018, according to Vinexpo and IWSR.
