Where Chinese wine began
Changyu was founded in 1892 in Yantai, on the coast of Shandong, by Zhang Bishi, a businessman and diplomat from the Chinese community of Southeast Asia. He bought land, brought in more than a hundred grape varieties from Europe and hired European winemakers. It was China's first modern winery and the beginning of the country's wine industry. According to the company, it produced its first wine in 1899 and China's first brandy in 1914.
Recognition in San Francisco
In 1915 Changyu sent its wines to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Its Chefoo Red Rose, a dry Riesling, Koya Brandy and a Vermouth each won a Grand Prize, the Exposition's top award: the first international honours for Chinese wine and brandy. Among the vines Changyu imported was the grape that became known as Cabernet Gernischt, now identified as Carmenère; in 1931 Changyu released China's first dry red wine made from it.
From one winery to many estates
Today Changyu is the largest wine company in China and, by its own account, has led the domestic market for more than twenty years. Alongside its historic home in Yantai, it has built a network of estates across the country, among them Chateau Changyu-Castel in Yantai, created with the Castel group of Bordeaux in 2002; Chateau Changyu Moser XV in Ningxia, opened in 2013 with the Austrian winemaker Lenz Moser; Chateau Changyu Baron Balboa in Shihezi, Xinjiang, opened the same year; Chateau Changyu AFIP near Beijing; and Longyu Estate in Ningxia. It also produces Koya, one of China's best-known brandies.
Why it matters
Almost every story in Chinese wine leads back to Changyu: the first imported vines, the first modern cellar, the first international medals. Its estates range from everyday wines to some of the country's most ambitious bottles.