CHRONIQUE N° 12

The Ningxia province of China is among the most important wine regions (Figure 1). The other wine regions are located in the following provinces: Shandong, Hebei, Xinjiang, Gansu, Henan, Ningxia, Shanxi ,Yunnan, Sichuan.    

The number of wineries in the Ningxia province is around 86 with the average vineyard size at 12-15 hectares. Depending on the winery, they may or may not have their own vineyard. Most wineries  purchase grapes from farmers.  Depending on the market and on the cultivar, the average price of one kg of grape fluctuates from 5-20 RMB.

According to what we know, the vineyard area in Ningxia is around 36,000 hectares for wine grapes, which corresponds to 540,000 mous according to governmental numbers (The common unit for area in China is the mou, where one mou = 667 m²).

The main planted varieties are:

• - Red Cultivars: Cabernet-Sauvignon, Carmenère (Cabernet-Gernischet that had been identified by Professor Alain Carbonneau, SupAgro), Merlot, Cabernet franc,  Shiraz, Petit Verdot. More recently the wineries started to plant an interesting variety for the Ningxia climate which is Marselan. Marselan is a French crossing between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache Noir obtained by INRA (France).
• 
  - White cultivars: Chardonnay, Riesling, Riesling Italico, Ugni Blanc.  

It is difficult to provide accurate numbers on the planted area for each variety, however the predominant wine varieties are Cabernet-Sauvignon, Carmenère (Cabernet Gernischet ) and Merlot. To date, the Chinese market is mainly asking for red wines from those varieties. Most of the wines are sold domestically in Ningxia or across China.

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