browse about your city and find a more "intimate" setting, so try not to be deterred and do give tyourself that extra time to find the proper place that will serve Chinese Brands with your dinner.
For anyone interested in the wine withoutthe fuzz, a city supermarket in the high end range will most of the times be able to cater to your needs.
after a busy and thrilling day exploring a Temple, Park or other Chinese landmark. In the evening hours one can reflect back upon the days experience while enjoying some good company, the Chinese cuisine and the Great Wall wine.
The local special product, the niunai (milk) grape forms the basis of Great Wall Wine of China. Founded in the year 1993 in the Shacheng Town of Huailai County in Zhangjiakou Prefecture of Hebei Province "Great Wall" wine is one of the first internationally renowned Brands to emerge from the Peoples Republic of China after the economic reforms of the 1980's. Although China has a 2000 year old tradition of wine making, during the first decades of the Communist Peoples Republic of China virtually no wine was consumed by its countless millions, and even thenmost of the wine consumed in China was imported wine. As Nationalist Chinese netizens have worded it; "the modern Post-Maoist Chinese wine market was established after "a French incursion" in 1980, when after a succesful mutual trade deal with France, the International Brand Rémy Martin entered the Chinese Market backed by a substantial PR Campaign, resulting in the first interest in wine drinking in China and subsequently a rapid rise in demand and consumption. Building upon later developments, China finally "countered" with the establishment of Great Wall wine, its first attempt to establish an internationally accepted and recognized wine brand".
For long after 1993, it was the only worthwhile Chinese wine available in all the Nation, which however was soon widely and increasingly available from International Hotels and Restaurants catering to the National Elite as well as Foreign visitors of all kinds. Thus, within China (P.R.C.) itself the brand was well established and in fact has been the main and most well known wine brands in the domestic market.
In the year 2002, during an National Drive to create and push a selected group of top National Brands to be established in the world market, almost naturally "Great Wall" Wine was among the first such brands. In that year the China General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine bestowed the newly created title of ‘China Famous Brand’ to the Great Wall Wine Brand. In 2003 the Great Wall Wine went on a featured display in the "Grand Brands of China exhibition" a special feature for (paying) visitors to the Great Hall of the Peoples at Tian'Anmen Square in Beijing. This was another special honor and unusual form of recognition. The Grand Brand of China exhibition at the Great Hall of the Peoples remained open well into 2005.
Subsequently, the various varieties of "Great Wall" wine have won a multitude of awards and mentions. Most noteably, so (s)elected in 2006, Great Wall wine became the official wine of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games pushing it to an even even higher degree of recognition and the pallates of Presidents and other important Govenment Officials. It was duly noted by the International Press (The Diplomat, November 27, 2009) that the Great Wall wine was served to president Barack Obama during his official dinner with President Hu Jintao (now "retired") during the official State Dinner. In 2009, Great Wall also became the (only) selected recommended wine for the Shanghai Expo 2010 super event, and thus also became the only grape wine brand associated with two top international events.
With an ever growing demand for quality wines in China, by 2010 Great Wall wine company found itself looking for more vineyards to supply grapes. Accorinding to Qu Zhe, assistant to the general manager of China Oil & Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO), which manages Great Wall Wine, Great Wall Wine was negotiating with vineyards in France and Chile. According to the official press conference; "Great Wall's overseas move will improve its wine quality by including better vineyards and enhancing its international competitiveness." The management team did however warn that gaining a foothold in the global market may not be easy for China as there are already many succesful international brands established (Source: English Peoples Daily, May 25, 2010).
So far the Brand of Great Wall has remained quite strong. After buying wineries in France and Chile in order to cope with demand, it has also advanced in Australia. In early 2013 COFCO, still China's largest food company, announced its intentions to buy the succesful Barossa Valley winery of Australia and market the wine under its Great Wall label (Source: Adelaidenow, February 27, 2013).
Today the Great Wall wine brand is owned by China Foods Limited (COFCO) and managed by its Wines & Spirits Division. "Great Wall" wine, now available in over a 100 different varieties and tastes, is exported to twenty countries and regions around the world, including the important overseas markets of France, Germany, UK and Japan. China Great Wall Wine Company is one of the top three largest wine producers in China and among these it is the largest exporter. Its continued export volume makes "Great Wall" wine the No.1 Brand in the Chinese wine industry.
According to various sources on the internet the company makes use of modern wine producing equipment imported from France, Germany and Italy. Altogether its facilities have 1375 twenty-ton storage vessels capable of holding 30,000 tons of grapes. The company itself has 74.8 hectares (1125 mu) of vineyards where over ten different world famous varieties of wine grapes are grown. These vineyards are however mostly situated in Shandong Province, due south east of Beijing. In addition, in Huailai County of Zhangjiakou in the area's surrounding the Company Headquarters and distillery, a local variety, the so called "Dragon Eye" grapes are grown. Subsequently, each of variety of grapes are produced single variety, high quality wines.
Or, at least that is the official story. Although historically Great Wall wine was considered absolutely first class especially treasured above various local market competitors, this now giant brand has come under criticism. The problem, so the connaisseurs say is that "Domestic producers have been pursuing high-yield harvests, using unripe grapes, and have blended local and imported wine". Environmentalists and expert wine farmers also point at a general problem of overcropping, abundant use of pesticides and poor canopy management.
Some voices say that too a few companies which are too large and powerful dominate the entire market. Thus, smaller brands have no way to compete and cannot easily emerge as a superior alternative. Other criticisms involve the claims that Great Wall wine, Changyu Pioneer Wine, and the Dynasty Wine Ltd. have only pursued profits putting their emphasis on marketing and sales, while as a result quality has lost out and even fallen. As a result say the staunched critics, Great Wall wine is only nominally a premium wine and in fact it is best described as "overpriced plonk in gaudy packaging".
Evenso, Great Wall wine remains popular among its domestic audience which has yet to acquire a sophisticated taste.
