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The Silk Route
Introduction on the Northern Foothills of the Tianshan Mountain
The Northern Foothills of the Tianshan Mountain is located at the latitude 43°-45° of the northern hemisphere and is recognized as the “golden” area for grape growing. It is also one of the few excellent production areas that can produce high quality wines in the world.
The Northern Foothills of Tianshan Mountain currently has a total coverage of 129,000 mu (approximately 8,600 hectares) and 40 wine companies (28 wine estates, 12 wineries) that account for 40% of whole Xinjiang. In 2021, an additional 13,000 mu of new planting bases have been completed, and the construction of 20 new wineries has been promoted. The Northern Foothills of Tianshan Mountain has become the only wine region with new wine grape areas and new wineries on the grand scale in Xinjiang. Five leading domestic enterprises, Citic Guoan Wine, Changyu, Great Wall, Dynasty Winery, have become the backbone in the Northern Foothills of the Tianshan Mountain. Meanwhile, the region has been recognized by a number of locally distinguished wine companies such as Tangting Xialu Winery, Chateau Xiang Hai, YinXiangGebi Winery, West Datang Winery as distinctive wineries in China.
The Northern Foothills of the Tianshan Mountain has won more than 400 awards in well-known competitions both domestic and international, such as Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Decanter World Wine Awards, International Wine Challenge, ‘Belt & Road’ International Wine Competition, etc.
After over 50 years of development, Xinjiang has reached 330,000 mu (approximately 22,000 hectares) vineyard area, 217,000-ton yields and 171,000 kiloliters of wine production, accounting for one-fourth of the country’s total, among the first-tier wine regions in China. At present, Xinjiang has initially established four wine regions, including the Northern Foothills of the Tianshan Mountain, Ili River Valley, Yanqi Basin, and Turpan-Hami Basin, and cultivated a number of wine brands with certain market recognition and influence, such as West Datang Winery, Niya Wines, Chateau Loulan, Xiangdu Winery, Chateau Aroma, Tiansai Vineyards, Chateau Zhong Fei, Yizhu Wine, Sunyard, Camel Wine, and Tangting Xialu Winery. The combined effect of wine industry development has been apparent. The rapid rise of wineries has integrated planting, winemaking, and cultural tourism together, establishing 134 wineries with their own characteristics and 10 wine companies with the trademark of “Estate Wine”, accounting for nearly 30% in China. China’s first Concours Mondial de Bruxelles Grand Prize and Gold Prize are all from the Xinjiang wine region.
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A conference schedule tailored to meet everyone’s needs
40 foreign guests and a large number of Chinese guests – wine journalists and specialist writers, Masters of wine, University Professors, sommeliers, educators and representatives of wine industry organizations and of Yinchuan Estates – are invited to the 3rd AWS Silk Route Forum.
The event will organize a major tasting open to all Asian wines, a competition focusing on Asian wines, judged by Chinese and international industry members.
And last but not least, a program of visits to estates with lunch or diner with the owners will be arranged.
A practical introduction to Asian Wines and Spirits
Another opportunity for showcasing and benchmarking is the wine tasting competition which will take place on September 26th. The competition is organised by Vinopres which boasts extensive experience in this type of contest, organising, amongst others, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and Concours Mondial du Sauvignon. Entries were judged by an international panel of tasters including several Masters of Wine.
Three types of medals will be awarded : Grand Prize, Gold and Silver.