Beer region
Liaoning
辽宁Liáoníng
Liaoning Province (with neighbouring Jilin) · Northeast China, the country's ice wine capital
- Province
- Liaoning Province (with neighbouring Jilin)
- Altitude
- About 380 m around Huanlong Lake
- Climate
- Cold continental, with humid winters
- Main products
- Vidal,Amur grape,Beibinghong
- Recognition
- Huanren ice wine: geographical indication
- Key city
- Shenyang
- Brewery
- Snow (CR Snow)
China's northeast, near the borders with North Korea and Russia, is the land of ice wine. Its capital is Huanren County, in Liaoning, where vineyards around Huanlong Lake produce a large share of the world's ice wine from the hardy Vidal grape. The first ice wine vineyards were planted here only in 2001, but the region quickly became China's largest ice wine producer. Neighbouring Jilin adds a unique twist: Beibinghong, a Chinese-bred grape that makes red ice wine.
How ice wine is made
Ice wine is made from grapes left on the vine until winter, when they freeze. They are picked and pressed while still frozen, so that only a small amount of very sweet, concentrated juice flows out. Ice wine was born by accident in Germany in 1794; China is a recent newcomer.
Huanren
In Huanren, the area around Huanlong Lake, at about 380 m, has a special microclimate: winters are cold but not dry, as the lake keeps the air humid. When temperatures fall to –8 °C, as ice wine requires, they can stay there naturally for a full day. The main grape is Vidal, a hardy hybrid chosen to survive the harsh winters.
Changyu was one of the first producers here. Working with the Canadian ice wine producer Aurora, it built its Golden Icewine Valley estate in 2006 and now draws on 333 hectares of Vidal near Huanlong Lake and the foothills of Wunü Mountain. Only about 20% of the harvest can be made into ice wine. Other producers in Huanren include Sanhe (Cailonglin), Deren and Dynasty.
Huanren is China's largest ice wine region by volume and, so far, the only one with geographical recognition for its ice wine; Liaoning can produce about 1,400 tonnes of ice wine a year.
Jilin and red ice wine
In neighbouring Jilin, around Ji'an and Tonghua, growers use Beibinghong, a grape bred in China from the wild Amur vine and European grapes, released in 2008. It is the world's first and only grape bred for red ice wine, and it tolerates frost down to about –30 °C. In 2020 an ice wine from Tonghua won a Platinum medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards.
History
2001
The first ice wine vineyards are planted in Huanren.
2006
Changyu builds its Golden Icewine Valley estate in Huanren.
2020
Ice wines from Northeast China win top medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards, including Platinum for a Tonghua ice wine from Jilin and Gold for a Huanren Vidal.
Climate & soils
- Climate
- Cold continental, with humid winters
- Altitude
- About 380 m around Huanlong Lake
Northeast China has a cold continental climate with harsh winters. Around Huanlong Lake in Huanren, at about 380 m, the lake moderates temperatures and keeps the winter air humid, so grapes ripen well in summer and freeze naturally in winter. Ice wine requires temperatures of at least –8 °C at harvest, which here can last a full day.
Sub-regions
Huanren桓仁
Liaoning; China's largest ice wine area, around Huanlong Lake and Wunü Mountain.
Tonghua通化
Jilin; known for red ice wine from the Chinese-bred Beibinghong grape.
Producers
Visit
- Best time to visit
- Late autumn and winter, for the ice wine harvest
Huanren is in eastern Liaoning, near the North Korean border. Changyu's Golden Icewine Valley is the best-known estate. The landscape of lakes and mountains is beautiful in autumn, while winter brings the ice wine harvest.
Sources
- China producer profile: Golden Icewine Valley – Huanren, Liaoning — Decanter, 2024
- China looks north to sate its ice wine demand — The Drinks Business, 2018
- Liaoning — Berry Bros. & Rudd
- Northeastern China wine region — Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards
- Ten years on: Chinese wine's breakthrough moment at DWWA — Decanter, 2021