Domaine Franco-Chinois is a winery born from diplomacy. In 1997 the leaders of China and France agreed to work together on viticulture and winemaking; in 1999 an agreement was signed and 23 hectares in Huailai, in Hebei Province, were set aside for a joint project, the Sino-French Cooperation Demonstration Vineyard. By 2005 it had become what is now Domaine Franco-Chinois. Its Chinese name, 中法庄园, means simply 'the Sino-French estate'.
The arrival of Marselan
On 13 April 2001, 80,525 vine cuttings arrived from France, including 10,525 of Marselan, and were planted that May. It was the first time Marselan had been planted in China. The team divided the vineyard into 24 plots and studied each one as a small laboratory of soil and microclimate. The first wine was made in 2003; the estate's chief winemaker at the start was Professor Li Demei, now known as the father of Marselan in China.
The estate was also the first in China to plant Petit Manseng on a significant scale. Of the 16 varieties planted in 2001, six proved best suited to Huailai and remain today: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Marselan and Petit Manseng.
Twenty years of patience
Although the winery was founded in 1999, its wines were only released to the public about twenty years later. They now appear on the lists of Michelin-starred restaurants in China and are exported to Singapore and France, among other markets. Winemaker Zhao Desheng, trained in China and France, has worked at the estate since the beginning. The French expert Pierre Labruyère consulted on viticulture and winemaking between 2003 and 2009.
Huailai
Huailai lies about an hour's drive from Beijing, at 40° north, with a semi-arid continental climate and around 393 mm of rain a year. The area has a long history: according to the estate, China's first bottle of dry wine was made here in 1976, as were the country's first sparkling wine and brandy.