Ningxia wine making a splash

Gone are the mock chateaus or brash buildings with Bavarian flourishes, and instead the winery is complete with Chinese traditional courtyards, gray brickwork, arched roof-tiling and animal statues of the Chinese zodiac.

Lansai won a Decanter gold in 2020 for its Yu Moli cabernet sauvignon, described as having a "classic nose", "elegant aromas of roasted coffee and leather", "assertive and polished tannins" and a "lovely long finish".

"Chinese culture can be seen in all our branding. It connects with not just Chinese people, but can connect with other people in other markets, we hope," Zeng says.

A case in point, on one bottle of marselan — a French wine grape variety that has found a home in Ningxia for its ability to produce highly aromatic medium-bodied reds — a glorious Chinese dragon snakes its body around the glass. Zeng says the significance of the dragon is that the ridges along its spine resemble the 24 peaks running the length of the Helan Mountains and mirror the 24 Chinese lunar terms that have been so crucial to and ingrained in the nation's agricultural history.

Convincing Chinese consumers has been no easy task, but the efforts of Chinese winemakers have paid off. China has risen to become the eighth-biggest wine market in the world, with a growing number of Chinese consumers switching from foreign brands to local producers.

However, cracking traditional wine markets overseas is something that will take greater patience, effort and time, experts say. In the UK, several major retailers stock wine made in Ningxia, so there are signs at least that the world has sat up and taken notice.

The International Organisation of Vine and Wine, a powerful Dijon-based intergovernmental body that deals with the technical and scientific aspects of viticulture and winemaking, has thrown its support behind China's burgeoning winemaking industry.