Changyu to build Shandong ‘City of Wine’

China's oldest wine company' Changyu Pioneer Wine Co, has announced it is to build a 'wine city' in Shandong province.

‘City of Wine’, Yantai

The project, according to ChinaDaily.com, will be situated in the city of Yantai, will cover an area of 413ha and will cost an estimated 6bn yuan (US$942.6m).

The centre will house a research institute and wine production centre, as well as vineyards, an ‘international wine trading centre’, and a ‘European-style village’.

There will also be ‘two high-end wine and brandy chateaux’, the website reported, making it one of the world’s largest wine and brandy production plants.

The centre is expected to be completed by 2016.

Changyu, according to its website, was ranked the 10th largest wine producer in the world in 2007, with sales of US$695m.

It is no stranger to audacious building projects: in 2002 it went into partnership with French wine company Castel to build the enormous Chateau Changyu-Castel in Shandong, and has followed that with six other chateaux.

Three of these are complete, with the other three – Chateau Changyu Baron Balboa in Xinjiang Uygur, Chateau Changyu Moser XV in Ningxia Hui, and Chateau Changyu Reina in Shaanxi province – expected to open this year.

Changyu has partnerships with producers in several countries, including France, Portugal, Italy, New Zealand and Canada.

In 2006, Changyu built what was expected to be one of the largest icewine estates in the world in the town of Beidianzi in Huanren, in the northeastern province of Liaoning. In terms of climate, altitude, topography and soil type, Beidianzi was found to be almost identical to the great icewine estates of Canada.

Its Château Changyu Vidal Ice Wine 2008 won Silver at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2011.

Written by Adam Lechmere