Market Insights: Chinese wine industry in 2025

The second edition of Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards took place in Macau from March 1-5, 2025. In total, it received 900 entries from 200 wineries, 20% higher than last year, from every wine region across China. This time around, the wines came from 14 regions across the country, and were served in blind flights to 27 international judges, including  10 Masters of Wine (MW), 3 Master Sommeliers (MS), and one dual MW/MS. Price Waterhouse Cooper acted as auditors.

It was a pleasure to join again, this time as co-chair, as it provided a fascinating opportunity to catch up not just on the state of the wines in China, but also the industry itself, as the judging was deepened by insights from experts including Professor Ma Huiqin of China Agricultural University in Beijing, Xing Wei MW, Julien Boulard MW and educator Xiao Pi.

Last year’s winner, at the inaugural awards, was Fei Tswei, a winery in the Helan Mountains of Ningxia, for their 2021 Reserve Marselan – noted as both Best Red Wine and Best Wine in China. Domaine Franco Chinois Petit Manseng 2018 received the Best Sweet Wine and Xige Estate N28 Chardonnay 2021 won Best White Wine, and Best Value.

Although we don’t yet know the identities of this year’s lineup of trophy-winning wines, we know they showcased an incredible range of styles: sparkling, rosé, whites and reds, and ice wine, reflecting the dynamic nature of the market. Their names will be revealed on April 11, 2025 – but before that, there is plenty to catch up on…

Chinese Wine Industry in 2025

• As a reminder, China is located on the world’s highest plateau, but has relatively little farming land for such a vast country. Winemaking in therefore all about finding microclimates that can work, because the big picture isn’t suitable – harsh winters and monsoon summers, with neutral or slightly acidic soils that are very different from most wine-growing countries. Despite this, China has the third-highest vineyard surface at 785,000 hectares (mainly table grapes), behind Spain at 955,000ha and France 812,000ha and ahead of Italy 718,000ha.
• The industry backdrop remains challenging in 2025. The wine market in China has shrunk from 120 billion yuan at its height to 20 billion yuan today, and the customer base is evolving. The Wine Spirit Education Trust in mainland China recently sent out a memo to its partners cutting authorisation fees for its Level 1 course by 50%, reflecting its struggle with declining student numbers in the country’s wine education sector – although several people told me during the week that this is a reflection of greater knowledge of consumers, and a desire to learn differently, outside of the formal WSET framework: ‘Tell me about feelings, not facts — localised flavour connections and descriptions are ever more important’ said wine educator Xiao Pi.
• China lifted tariffs on Australian wine in March 2024, leading to a surge in imports from the country. Imports jumped from Aus$10 million in 2023 to over Aus$500 million in 2024, making Australia the top wine supplier by value.
• Penfolds’ acquisition of 75% of Ningxia winery Stone & Moon in December 2024 underlined Treasury Wine Estate’s commitment to the market and the continued development of its locally-produced wines. Situated in Qingtongxia in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, this is likely to play a role in the further production of CWT 521, a high-end wine made with grapes from Ningxia and Yunnan – and should also further raise the profile of the winery internationally. Treasury has also confirmed plans to build its own winery in China.
• The number of wineries in Ningxia today stands at somewhere between 140 and 200. The region will host the high-profile Concours Mondial du Vin in June 2025, further cementing its reputation as the heart of Chinese wine – certainly one with some of the best local government support, although this is a double edged sword as it is also heavily dependent on government subsidies.
• China is also raising its international wine profile by joining the Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). The application was submitted in May 2024, and the following month the OIV sponsored the International Conference on Grape and Wine Industries in Ningxia. The application was accepted by the OIV after a six-month probationary period in November 2024, with China becoming the 51st member. Formal ratification by the Chinese government is expected by mid 2025.
• Yunnan is very much in the ascendancy, helped by its flagship estates, LVMH-owned Ao Yun and Clos de Tart’s XaoLing Winery. It is now seeing investment from a number of local and international groups. In this corner of China, there are currently 15 grape producers in Sichuan, 10 in Yunnan and 10 in Tibet plus hundreds of brands. Not only is it one of the few regions where you don’t have to bury the grape vines in the winter, it is also almost entirely ungrafted vines, almost entirely organic farming, and its image is one of high quality production. As Professor Ma Huiqin of China Agricultural University said, ‘Yunnan is a paradise for people who have dreams to make great wine’. The nature of its landscape up in the Himalayan mountain, with grape growing altitude ranging from 1,700-3,000m, means that it is almost certain to remain the home of small-volume producers (40ha is about as big as it gets). Railway construction is underway, and for now it has a tolerant social environment and encourages international exchanges, so still potential to grow. Shangri-La now has Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon in same region, as people begin to experiment.
• Yili in the northwest, Huailai near Beijing and Yantai are also increasing in profile and quality.
• In terms of overall production figures in the country, in 2024 China produced 1,180,000hl of wines, a drop from last year’s 1,435,000hl.
• The leading wineries in terms of production remain Great Wall and Changyu Pioneer Wine Co, but they are producing around 1/10 of their production pre-Covid, with a value at around 1/4. This is a huge challenge for the many grape growers whose business model was predicated on selling to these two companies.
• In China, quality perception is so linked to price that it can distort the link between the two in terms of what is in the glass. And means there are very few low cost wines, which then limits the growth of local consumption. Prices set by wineries not market, and generally the wine market is increasingly fragmented.
• China Wines Information Website reports that there is growing attention to intellectual property rights, particularly Geographical Indications (GIs). A 2021 China-Europe pact protects 100 GIs from each side, with more than half of Europe’s GIs related to wine. This year, 2025, an additional 175 GIs per side will be added. China is promoting GIs through conferences, registration guides, and state media coverage.

Wine grapes in China are almost entirely in the northern parts of the country, with the exception of Yunnan and Sichuan

A few thoughts following the judging

• Bear in mind that at this point, everything is blind, and the results will not be known until April 11 2025.
• Entries received from Beijing, Gansu, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning, Nigxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tibet, Xianjiang, Yunnan.
• Cabernet Sauvignon remained the dominant category for judging in terms of numbers, still representing approximately 80% of plantings in the country. But Marsalan is catching up fast (no doubt helped by last year’s winning wine), and we had several dozen examples of the style.
• The rise of Marsalan is likely to continue, and we are seeing plantings rise (from 700ha up to just north of 1,000ha estimated). There are several reasons for this – perhaps most significantly that although bud break is very similar to Cabernet to Cabernet Sauvignon, it contains far less of the pyrazine (green pepper) molecules, and so the short growing season of many Chinese regions has less impact to the final flavour in the glass. It is also more disease resistant than Cabernet because of its thick skins and loose bunches. This is a strong asset in regions such as Shandong because of low sensitivity to grey rot, oidium and acarids (although sensitive to white rot). It also retains lower ph than Cabernet at similar brix (sugar) levels, so less need to acidify. It has issues with new oak, that can swamp the fruit, and often needs tannin enhancement, but with Marsalan China has opportunity to set the benchmark, which makes it a serious opportunity.
• We tasted a number of unusual blends – Pinot Merlot and Merlot, for example, possibly with winemakers using the Merlot to add colour to the resulting wine, or simply a result of existing plantings in the vineyard. Either way, this was a tough blend to make successful.
• Drought-resistant and heat-resistant varieties are on the rise, such as Malbec and Syrah.
• White wines are clearly becoming more popular. We had lots more white entries than last year, and some exceptional quality (I’m waiting to find the producer of a particularly exceptional Viognier from Yunnan). This also mean we were seeing more Blanc de Noir, so white wines from red varieties, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, because wineries are making this style from their existing vine stock – with mixed success.
• Hybrids remain a key part of the grape mix in China, particularly in the northeast of the country. They offer great potential for ice wine and late harvest sweets (there is almost no natural botrytis in the country). One of best flights I tasted was of Vidal from Liaoning.
• There is a movement towards lighter wines, in China as elsewhere movement.
• A lot of orange wines this year compared to last year, helped by the addition of a Best Young Winemaker in China category. This is not an easy category to succeed in anywhere and in China they are often with hybrid grapes, meaning the added complication of foxy aromatics, but there were some successes.
• Yunnan is clearly an exciting region with real potential. The single vineyard concept in Yunnan is natural – there are over hundreds of small plots across different small villages in the region, at a dizzying number of altitudes and expositions, with a rich variety of soil types. There is really no way to develop big industry here because it is so rural and mountainous – and that makes it very exciting for wine lovers. Among my favourite wines tasted last week was a Syrah from Shangri-La, that again I am very much looking forward to being unveiled.
• Although the vast majority of wines tasted were in excellent condition, there were still more faults than you would expect to find in a competition of this kind. As with last year, the most usual was oxidation, which is clearly a closure issue rather than winemaking, with a little more TCA than last year. Once again the most striking winemaking fault that I found was clumsy acid adjustment, as winemakers adjusted the often naturally low acidities of the wines, plus over-enthusiastic oak use to fix colour and cover lack of ripeness, often with low quality oak products. The higher prevalence of faults this year can be attributed, I would imagine, to the impact of Covid on the country’s winemakers, with problems getting the manpower for harvesting at the right time, and a lack of equipment such as barrels coming in to the country (this was particularly true for the 2022 vintage, and was more pronounced in certain regions, notably Xinjiang).
• Overall, there were many exceptional wines, and even more than last year, we are thrilled with the final lineup of Trophy winners – looking forward to the unveiling next month!