Before the year 1976, the world was only wandering around French wines, which were, at that time, the symbol of quality and elegance. But in a wine tasting in Paris held by an English merchant Steven Spurrier in 1976, French wines’ domination was challenged. This tasting shocked France, and also shocked the world. California State of America, a place used to be considered not fertile enough to produce fine wines, became one of the world wine makers.
Californian Wines: characteristics
America is the world’s fourth planter of grapes and the fourth producer of wines, with an area of 364 thousand hectares of grapes and an annual volume of about 2.300 billion liters of wine. Nowadays, in some sense, California has exceeded Italy in international reputation. Over 95% of American wines come from the states of California, New York, Washington and Oregon. California alone produces 91% of American wines.
Californian wines have a history of about two centuries. The most notable production areas are Napa County, Sonoma County, Madera County and Lodi County. These four counties all lie parallel to the back of San Francisco, and reached the bottom of Yosimite National Park.
Here there are about 75 thousand hectares of grapes, and over 600 breweries. The main grape varieties are cabernet(解百纳), zinfandel(增芳德), pinot noir(黑品诺), and merlot(美乐) for red grapes, and chardonnay(霞多丽), sauvignon blanc(长相思)， chenin blanc(白诗南), colombades(格伦巴德) and gewürztraminer(琼瑶浆) for white grapes.
Californian wines have acidity lower than that of French wines, which is more to the taste of Asians and people who like drinking new wines. Furthermore, most of Californian wines are brewed using a single variety of grape, which enhances the glamor of the grape itself. The inner beauty of merlot, cabernet and other varieties are displayed incisively and vividly.
Californian Wines: exploration of China
Californian wines, although very famous worldwide, do not have mature Chinese market. According to statistics from the California Wine Institute, in 2011, America’s wine export to China increased by about 42%, which indicates that more and more Chinese consumers are enjoying Californian wines. As can be seen, China wine market has great potential to consume. And Californian brands are speeding up their pace to enter China.
On September 19th, 2012, four Californian brands held a news conference, declaring entrance into China. These brands include: Presidential Legend, Capitol Hill, Californian Collection, and Californian Concentration. These four brands represent, respectively, honor, luxury, cherish, and elite. With the thorough study of China market, and full preparation, they are going to share the joys of life with Chinese wine lovers.
Edited for Daxue China Market Research
Credit Photo: 519
