UK Wine Show 139 China with Dr Richard Smart

This show was published Friday, January 16, 2009

Overview

Dr Richard Smart is a famous viticulturist who has been consulting on the Chinese wine industry. We find out more about China and its future as a wine-producing nation.

Currently China produces a large quantity of grapes but they export very little wine and the Chinese people don't drink very much wine. Most of the grapes grown are table grapes. The Chinese government wants to change this and develop the wine industry, partly to reduce the production of China's popular wheat-based alcoholic drink so that wheat can be used to produce food.

The regions that have potential are inland (cooler, continental climate) rather than coastal (too hot) and particularly good is west of Bejing. Current production is focused on international grape varieties. Richard predicts China will start to have an impact on the global wine industry in 10-20 years time, so around 2020-2030.

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Sponsorship

The UK Wine Show is sponsored by ThirtyFifty. Our team of wine tasters are busy entertaining and educating UK consumers to help them get the most out of wine.

Music

The music used for the UK Wine Show is Griffes de Jingle 1 by Marcel de la Jartèle and Silence by Etoile Noire.