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Laurenz Moser China has risen to become one of the world's leading economic powers. Does this also apply to the wine industry? Will Chinese wine soon flood the world? Alexander Lupersböck interviewed Laurenz Moser, consultant and namesake of the Chateau Changyu Moser XV winery in China. He recognises ambitious developments in viticulture, but does not expect the emergence of a new wine world power.

With around 785,000 hectares, China has the third largest vineyard area in the world after Spain and France. The country is the ninth largest grape producer in the world, but most of it is harvested as table grapes. The area used for wine production is currently about 100,000 hectares, which is almost as large as in Germany. Laurenz Moser V. from Austria, grandson of the estate owner Lenz Moser and advisor to the Chinese winery Yantai Changyu, founded Chateau Changyu Moser XV there, which opened in 2013. The Roman numeral for 15 is used because Laurenz Moser V. represents the 15th generation of the family active in viticulture.

Moser knows the market and the conditions of production in China very well. He is cautious in his assessment of what is often described as a wine boom in the Middle Kingdom - and not only because of the Covid 19 restrictions. Chinese domestic production, for example, has been declining for six years, but this has hardly been noticed. After all, China's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) had made imports easier, and so the decline at home was made up for. "The party propagates wine consumption, so wine will remain important," reports Laurenz Moser, "China has a strong focus on the Western lifestyle, so it is becoming more desirable for the population. People also want to enjoy life more. Therefore, viticulture will soon grow in double digits per year again."

"China's oenologists will have emancipated themselves in 15 years"

Dieses um 1900 aufgenommene Foto zeigt chinesische Arbeiter beim Anlegen eines Weingartens unter Aufsicht von Europäern This photo taken around 1900 shows Chinese workers planting a vineyard under the supervision of Europeans © C.C. Pearce

There was already a strong Austrian connection when the Yantai Changyu winery was founded in 1892: at that time, the son of the founder of the world's first viticultural school in Klosterneuburg, August von Babo, the Austro-Hungarian consul Baron Max von Babo, was hired as advisor and cellar master. To this day, the most important Chinese wineries are run with the know-how of Western oenologists and plant managers. How long will they be needed? Laurenz Moser estimates that China's oenologists will have emancipated themselves in ten to 15 years: "They are technically highly trained and learn extremely fast - much faster than we Europeans and Americans. They have great ambition and want to develop back to where they were before: As the Middle Kingdom, the central country of the world." What they have lacked so far, however, is experience. "That is my role here: I look at the details and know the preferences of international consumers."

For him, the sommelier scene in China and the level of training in the trade is developing just as quickly. "This acquired knowledge is currently still one-dimensional and not networked. Knowing a lot about wine doesn't mean I can consciously use this know-how. But there are more and more Chinese oenologists who have studied at the best universities in the world. But there are now also excellent training centres in the country," Moser reports.

Best growing conditions in the Ningxia region

Weinernte am Chateau Changyu MoserWine harvest at Chateau Changyu Moser © Chateau Changyu Moser

Chateau Changyu Moser XV is located in the province of Ningxia in central China. What challenges does Laurenz Moser face there?

"The soils are loamy-sandy with gravel and stones in the subsoil," he says. You have to irrigate, but otherwise the conditions are "optimal". The region is on the edge of the desert: "We only have 20 percent humidity. Even at 35 °C in summer, you don't break out in a sweat. There are no problems with fungi and insect pests. In addition, the acid is not absorbed in the cool neighbourhoods. The growing season there is the same length as in Europe, and the smallest Cabernet Sauvignon berries in the world grow in the vineyards. You can make really good wine with that." Because of this situation, Moser is currently planning to convert to biodynamic farming.

The experience and the love of detail are still missing

So is Ningxia the new promised land of viticulture? Not quite, Moser explains, the conditions are excellent, but it is difficult to plant vineyards. Because of the harsh winters, the vines have to be dug in every year. "That accounts for 40 per cent of the wage bill. And the plants are not yet the way I want them to be. There is still a long way to go. The 'soft skills' among the staff are also still missing: the experience and attention to detail that are essential for great wines. But we are on a good path. We are, after all, still quite young."

French varieties preferred

Weinbau wie im Paradies in NingxiaNingxia province has the best conditions for winegrowing © Chateau Changyu Moser

According to Moser, 2015 marked the beginning of the era for fine wine in China. That's when the investments of some large wineries began to bear fruit - and due to the accession to the WTO, a large selection of good imported wines was available as a model from that point on. Since then, "really good wines" have been produced in China. Despite their flowery names such as "dragon's eye", "chicken's heart" and "mare's teat", autochthonous grape varieties do not play a role, "although I would like that for marketing purposes". But they would not have enough potential for good wines. Besides, Moser says, Chinese consumers currently love Bordeaux and Burgundy varieties above all. Moser does, however, believe that Riesling has some potential in Ningxia, and Grüner Veltliner would also fit well in the region. But at the moment, the wineries are strongly oriented towards French varieties. They are the benchmark - and the young winemakers can also compare themselves with them internationally.

Where will China's path as a wine producer lead? Laurenz Moser assumes that the export share of the wines produced there will not exceed ten percent. Wine is expensive in China - but demand has long exceeded domestic production many times over. In addition, the productivity per hectare is still low. So far, exports have only been made for strategic reasons, "in order to be able to compare and assert themselves internationally". Success in Europe gives the wineries "charisma on the domestic market". "China is a high-price country," Laurenz Moser sums up, "and it is relatively expensive to produce wine here. Therefore, it will not flood the world market."

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