Grapes in Yunnan

STORY OF YUNNAN’S ROSE HONEY GRAPES

In the mid 18^th century, a young French missionary took a long journey across the world and eventually departed India and journeyed to Yunnan through the Ancient Tea Horse Trail.  He found his last destination to be the Cizhong Village, in the MiLe County in the Lancang River Valley (highland valley) in Yunnan Province of China.  The place was described and defined as the inland area of Shangri-La by an English man called James Hilton 100 years later.

The missionary brought along the scripture from God, and built a church house in Cizhong which is standing and well protected even now. This church eventually became the Cathedral of the Yunnan Deanery of Missions Etrangeres de Paris (M.E.P.) in 1921, and housed many French clergy until the last one returned home in 1951.

As Yunnan was a great deal away from France, he and other Frenchmen brought in from France an old vine species – Rose Honey that was one of the proud varietals of France at that time.  The missionary taught the people in Cizhong how to grow grapes and make wines from them.  The winemaking techniques and skills can be seen in Cizhong even now.  As the French-built one meter wide railway expanded, the vines were grown along for generations.  Nowadays, the vines grow prosperously in a dry and hot valley – MiLe, and make this magic dry hot valley a superb quality grape growing area in the world’s highest elevation. In fact, this area has become known as the “world’s” only wine production area above 1,500 meters.

Yunnan Red Featuring Contemporary Yunnan Heavy Color Artist, Li Chengzhong

YUNNAN RED WINE

During the 1950’s, some agricultural experts visited Honghe Region of Yunnan Province and found a vine species locally called “purple grapes” with characteristics different from others.  After years of intensive studies and verifications by authorized botanists, the “purple grapes” were verified in the 90’s as an old French vine species – Rose Honey, which had long disappeared in France due to an environmental disaster prevailing the continent 100 years ago.  It was in 1866, when an epidemic of pests brought from America with imported timber, caused vineyards throughout France to be stricken by grape phylloxera, which resulted in the extinction of Rose Honey.  It is fortunate, that this varietal was introduced to Yunnan prior to this disaster, and happily, the Rose Honey grapes grow well here because of its unique weather and soil conditions in Yunnan.

This discovery surprised the World and the legend of Yunnan Red wine started from this grape species.

2002 Yunnnan Red Wine Featuring Contemporary Heavy Color Artist, Chen Yongle

It is known that for high quality grapes to grow, 8 conditions are required:

1.       Sunshine

2.       Warmth

3.       Long growing period each year

4.       Adequate rainfall or irrigation

5.       Cool dry air

6.       Big range in day-night temperature

7.       Ventilated sandy soil

8.       Resistance to diseases and insects

The first four conditions are better in areas closer to the equator and the latter four more available in areas closer to the poles.  Areas meeting these conditions in the earth are within 30-50 degrees of north and south latitudes including France, Italy, California-US, Argentina, South Africa and northern parts of China like Xinjiang, Shandong, Hebei provinces. These areas are called “grapes belts” suitable for high quality vine grapes to grow.

To the surprise of the world, however, one of the dry hot valleys on Yunnan Plateau – MiLe is found to have conditions as perfect as that of the “Grapes belts” for high quality vine grapes to grow.  The weather here provides adequate growing period for grapes; relatively shorter rainy season; strong evaporation and strong ultraviolet radiation restricting diseases and insects.  Some of these unique features are incomparable even for the “grape belts” of the world.

Due to the favorable climate, the vines here do not suffer problems such as compulsory dormancy and winter survival, early crops of grapes can be harvested in June each year.  In July while the vines in the traditional grape belts of China are just hung with young grapes suffering from rains and insects attacking, the grapes in Yunnan Red vineyards are fully matured, harvested and trucked to the winery.  The following conclusions are new but certain:

-          The earliest matured grapes in the world are in Yunnan

-          The earliest new wine for markets each year is in Yunnan

-          The vineyards with the highest elevation and lowest latitude in the world are in Yunnan

-          The vineyards enjoying the best quality sunshine in the world are in Yunnan

-          The extinguished grape species ‘Rose Honey” in other places of the world, survive in Yunnan

According to one sommelier, Rose Honey can give the drinker the illusion that a beautiful girl is shyly approaching.  How befitting then, that many wine bottles are now decorated with Yunnan’s beautiful minority tribe women.

2002 Vintage Featuring Contemporary Yunnan Heavy Color Artist, Chen Yongle