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Wine classifications

Ningxia winery classification 贺兰山东麓列级酒庄

China Ningxia · 2013

First Growth · Second Growth · Third Growth · Fourth Growth · Fifth Growth

Inspired by Bordeaux's 1855 classification, it ranks Ningxia's wineries into five growths. Wineries are reassessed every two years and can be promoted; a First Growth is reassessed every ten years. To qualify, a winery must use grapes from its own vineyards, from vines at least five years old, and make all its wine on site. In the first edition, ten wineries were ranked Fifth Growth.

Sweetness on the label 干 · 半干 · 半甜 · 甜

Chinese national standard

Dry (干): up to 4 g/L · Off-dry (半干): 4–12 g/L · Medium-sweet (半甜): 12–45 g/L · Sweet (甜): over 45 g/L

Chinese wine labels state the sweetness category, based on grams of sugar per litre. The dry category allows slightly more sugar for wines with high acidity.

Geographical indications and recognised areas 地理标志

Helan Mountain East (Ningxia) · Hexi Corridor (Gansu, 2012) · Huanren ice wine (Liaoning) · Small-scale Wine Regions: Manas (Xinjiang), Penglai (Shandong)

Several Chinese wine areas are protected as geographical indications, and some smaller areas have been certified as 'Small-scale Wine Regions of China'.

The national wine standard 葡萄酒

National standard GB 15037-2006 · 2006

By colour: red (红) · white (白) · rosé (桃红)By bubbles: still (平静) · sparkling (起泡) | Special wines (特种葡萄酒): ice wine (冰葡萄酒), noble rot (贵腐), fortified (利口), low-alcohol and alcohol-free

China's wine standard defines wine as a drink made from fresh grapes or grape juice by full or partial fermentation, with at least 7% alcohol. It sorts wines by colour, by sweetness and by bubbles, and gives a separate place to special wines such as ice wine and fortified wine. If a label states a vintage, a variety or a region, at least 80% of the wine must come from it.

Chinese wine has no single appellation system like France's AOC or Italy's DOC. Instead it is shaped by three layers of rules: a national standard that defines what wine is and how it must be labelled, geographical indications that protect the names of the main regions, and a winery classification in Ningxia inspired by Bordeaux. For a drinker, the label is the place to start. A Chinese wine label must state the sweetness category, and if it names a vintage, a grape variety or a region, most of the wine must actually come from it. The words 干 (dry), 产区 (region) and 酒庄 (winery estate) are worth learning: together they usually signal a wine made to be taken seriously. The Ningxia classification is the most ambitious system. Wineries are ranked in five growths, from Fifth to First, and reassessed regularly, so a winery can climb, or fall, over time. It rewards wineries that grow their own grapes and make their wine on site, which is exactly what has changed Chinese wine in the last twenty years.

All styles

Sources

  1. Ningxia: China's rapidly emerging fine wine region — Decanter, 2024
  2. Ningxia releases latest winery classification listing — Decanter China
  3. Hexi Corridor wine region — Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards
  4. Shandong wine region — Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards