Essential WINE
中 国 葡萄 酒 市 场日 益 壮大 The great vine of China 中国葡 萄酒行业发 展持续 增 长。国 际 著 名 酿 酒 师 大 卫 · 巴伐斯托克透 过 本文解 释 了 个 中 原 因 The Chinese wine industry keeps on growing. David Baverstock explains why 文/by DAVID BAVERSTOCK, HERDADE DO ESPORÃO
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国在酿制烈酒和葡萄酒方面历史悠 久。中国酿制粮食酒的技术已经至臻 成熟，葡萄酒酿制技术则留给外国人发展， 至 少 直 到 最 近 情 况 才 有 所 改 观 。过 去 几 年 间 ，中 国 各 地 的 葡 萄 酒 厂 如 雨 后 春 笋 般 兴 建，无论是云南的高山还是新疆的荒漠，都 能见到葡萄酒厂的身影。如今，中国的葡萄 园数量比法国还要多。 鉴于可参考的考古证据和历史记录很少， 人们相信，葡萄酒的生产大约在 4500 多年前 就已经存在了，唐代编年史记录了绝大多数 的 葡 萄 酒 饮 用 信 息 （620 年 至 910 年 间 ）。但 葡萄酒早在这段时期之前就开始酿制了，酿 酒 葡 萄 是 希 腊 人 种 植 的 葡 萄 ，但 在 青 铜 时 代葡萄酿酒被取缔，取而代之的是用谷物， 如小米，高粱和大米酿制的酒类。 “真 正 的 ”葡 萄 酒 生 产 直 到 19 世 纪 晚 期 才 开始出现，欧洲葡萄品种被引进到了中国，自 那时起葡萄酒生产开始不断增长。在葡萄酒 生产方面，中国相当独特——他们在看似最 不可能种植葡萄的气候区域种植葡萄，如有 98 | AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2018 | ESSENTIAL MACAU
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hina has a long history of making alcoholic spirits and wines. However, while the country has perfected the art of making grain-based liquor, grape wine has largely been left to foreigners, at least until recently. Over the past few years, wineries have been cropping up all over the country, from the hills of Yunnan to the remote deserts of Xinjiang. Now the country boasts more vineyards than France. With only scant archaeological evidence to base history on, it is believed that wine made from grapes was in existence over 4,500 years ago with the Tang dynasty annals providing most of the information of its use and consumption during the period of 620-910. Grape wine was made however before those dates, using vines planted by the Greeks, but then obliterated during the Bronze age and replaced by wine made with grains such as millet, sorghum and rice.
‘Real’ wine production did not take place until the late 19th century, when European grapes hit Chinese soil, and growth has been continuous since then. China is quite unique in wine production – they manage to grow grapes in the most unlikely climatic regions, where icy winters prevail and vines need to be buried in soil to survive, sometimes in provinces that are thousands of miles from the nearest ocean. The Chinese strive to produce wines that are similar to Bordeaux, with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon the most widely planted grapes, as they believe these are the more prestigious wines. The Chinese people have an obsession with the colour red so it is no surprise that the majority of wine produced is red. It is also relevant that many Chinese confuse the generic category of white wine with the white wine spirit that is common throughout China. Domestic wine production increased in China from 0.78mhl (million hectolitres) to