Raise A Glass To China

At the inaugural Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards, three experts tell Prestige why you should consider picking up a bottle for your next dinner party or date night.

- JEFF YEUNG

When talking about wine consumption, it's hard not to mention China, which in 2017 drank its way through 1.9 billion litres of the liquid. Although the numbers have gradually declined since the pandemic, the country is still the world's eighth leading wine consumer, at a steady 0.88 billion litres.

When it comes to the other side of the coin, that of wine production, China probably isn't among the first countries that come to mind - in fact for most consumers it might not come to mind at all. Yet the fact is that the number of Chinese winemakers and production volumes have skyrocketed over the past decade. "There's been an explosion of new producers," says the China-based Master of Wine Julien Boulard. "When I first arrived in China 20 years ago, you could count on the fingers of one hand how many producers there were. Now, there are hundreds of wineries scattered around the country." In 2020, not only did China rank 10th in global wine production, it was also the largest grape producer in the world, with more land used for vineyards than any other nation.

Today, there are roughly 700 to 800 wineries in the country, which together produce 420 million litres of wine a year. So why is it most people never think of Chinese wines when they're picking out a bottle? The reason, say the experts, is simple: stigma.

"Is there still stigma? Honestly, yes, especially abroad," says Janet Z. Wang, wine pundit, judge and writer of The Chinese Wine Renaissance: A Wine Lover's Companion.