French winemaker brings his passion to the Chinese vineyard

To collect exhibits such as old articles used in traditional winemaking in France, Paumard bought a lot of winemaking tools from his friends at home.

"I feel like I am sort of a preacher of wine culture," he says.

Paumard says many Chinese winemakers lack experience in the vineyards and focus on the winery science.

"To be a good winemaker, you must observe everything, not just numbers."

Life in a small city like Wuhai can be slow, but Paumard has learned to cope.

He calls himself an "addict" of the WeChat mobile app. Besides adding many new friends he meets, he often searches on the Internet for people who can speak English. Spending lots of free time on WeChat, he sees the platform as a powerful medium to build up a good image for his products, as well as for himself.

Sharing his activities about wines "is like a book of memories", Paumard jokes.

It's been a good tool for his work, too: He has opened an online shop using the WeChat app to sell Hansen wine products.

He has traveled around China, and he jokes that he'd like to own a house with a garden and live a quiet life in Dali, Yunnan province, after his retirement, because he loves the natural environment and weather there so much.

Now, Paumard regularly travels between Wuhai and Shenzhen for the vineyard's product branding, and he's just finished a book that he spent nine years writing. In Winemaker, he aims to teach people how to make wine at home. It has been translated into Chinese and will be published soon.

liuxiangrui@chinadaily.com.cn