World winemakers converge on Chengdu

New Chinese wineries courted the media for attention. Wine associations organized tastings to introduce the latest wines. Wine merchants invited clients to dine at many of the city's gourmet restaurants, taking the time not just to sell, but also to socialize.

The 90th China Food and Drinks Fair created plenty of buzz in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, during the last week of March. Old and new powers of the wine industry made an appearance at the fair - testimony to the growing strength of the Chengdu market area.

The loudest buzz reverberated from Chengdu to California: the Robert Mondavi Winemaker announced an alliance with the Chinese giant Vats Liquor that aims to make the Napa Valley winery "the No 1 premium wine brand in China".

Mondavi's parent corporation, Constellation Brands Inc, has more than 100 brands in its portfolio, and sales in approximately 100 countries. Founded in 1945, it is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits with operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and Italy.

Vats Liquor, meanwhile, is a top chain store in China. It is the agent and distributor of such big-name brands as Moutai, Wuliangye and Lafitte.

The deal merges Vats Liquor's deep understanding of the Chinese consumers and its professional brand building capacities with Mondavi's big production, good value for money, and guaranteed quality, according to Wu Xiangdong, chairman of Vats Group and Vats Liquor.

Mondavi sells about 10,000 12-bottle cases annually in China - a small showing compared to the potential it sees working with Vats as its distributor on the Chinese mainland.

At a tasting at Chengdu's Minyoun Royal Hotel, Genevieve Janssens, director of winemaking with Robert Mondavi Winery, explained her company's vision of a good wine: finesse, elegance, balance and always good to pair with food.

All the wines of the day reflected that. The Fume Blanc 2012, Chardonnay Reserve 2009, Pinot Noir Reserve 2011, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2008 and 1998, and Sauvignon Blanc Botrytis 2001 all matched up wonderfully with dishes served. The wines are generally rounder, more balanced, with a longer aftertaste than many table wines on the market. Wines with good power and structure, they tasted better after a while in the glass.

Compared to the ambition of Robert Mondavi, the Leirenshou winery in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region was just testing the waters in Chengdu.

Owner Feng Qing exhibited his wines at a five-star hotel, the fair's branch site. He invited wine sellers and the media to dinner to sample his wares. It was an experimental step, he said, to see the market's reaction.

The winery has just 267 hectares at the east foot of Helan Mountain, facing the bank of Yellow River. The logo is an ancient rock carving of the god of the sun, a pattern resembling a human head. Production began under a French winemaker and continues by a Chinese.