China can draw on very long tradition to be world player; WINE.

Byline: HELEN SAVAGE

IT'S not clear just how many vineyards have been planted in China, but there are a lot.

The area under vine is said to be increasing by 12% to 15% each year and China's wine production is substantial.

Imports of wine into China have risen too and are projected to continue rising fast, despite the credit crisis - maybe as much as ten-fold over the next decade.

Chinese wine can be very good indeed, as I recently discovered on a flight to Hong Kong. I was served a thoroughly enjoyable Bordeaux-like wine from Grace Vineyards, set up by a Hong Kong businessman in 1997.

However, many leading members of the Hong Kong wine trade stubbornly persist in believing that Chinese wine is not as good as that produced in the rest of the world.

Some of the Hong Kong trade's criticisms of Chinese wine may have some validity. In particular, it's not acceptable that grapes can be imported into China from a third country and then re-exported, labelled as "Chinese wine". One Aussie wine merchant suggested that 80% of some well-known Chinese brands were, in fact, Chilean and even Simon Tam, perhaps the most influential Asian wine writer, reckons that, "if every now and then a Chinese wine tastes Chilean, it's because it includes around 40% Chilean grapes".

Tam points out that not all the new vineyards are planted in the best possible locations. "Mr Wong won't leave his farm where his family has been for four generations just to go where the soil is perfect for growing grapes. That's why the new vineyards have been planted in unsuitable places where the soil is too fertile."

Kevin Tang, a Hong Kong wine educator, made the startling claim that the planting of vines in the Chinese mainland is "just hearsay".

But Tam affirms that vineyards are real (and he should know - he spent several years going round the wineries trying to flog filters to them). Not surprisingly, perhaps, the official line is also more considered.

Christopher Wong, Hong Kong's Deputy Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, assured me that winemakers on the Chinese mainland will "develop their own styles of wine to meet Asian needs".

He also welcomed the decision by the International Wine Challenge to devote an award to the best Chinese wine at a special competition to be held in Hong Kong in November. He would prefer to see the Hong Kong trade take a more positive attitude to Chinese wine and to work with Chinese wine producers. "We can't teach China how to make wine," he admitted, "but we can teach them how to market it."

He also told me that some of the biggest investors in Chinese viticulture, including Remy Martin, which has a major interest in the Dynasty brand, are interested in developing the exciting potential of native Chinese grape varieties.

At the moment, many of the Chinese wines on sale here are made from familiar European varieties. But I find it hard to believe another Hong Kong merchant who asserted that "the labelling is really suspect - they call every red Cabernet Sauvignon, whatever goes into the bottle".

All I can say is that the Chinese wines I've had back on Tyneside have all tasted pretty much as they should.

The 2003 Pinot Noir I bought in the Wing Hong supermarket in Newcastle's Stowell Street (where you can find quite a good little range of Chinese wine) was unmistakably Pinot - and it didn't taste as if it came from Chile.

Morrison's decided last year to list two Chinese wines under the Silk Road label, both from the Xinjiang region in the far North West of the country. Both are well made and fair value at pounds 5.99. The 2005 Chardonnay is clean and peachy, with hints of melon and pineapple. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is warm and winey with a blackcurrant jam smell and chewy, chunky texture utterly consistent with actually having been made from fresh Cabernet grapes.

If it's not the finest Cabernet Sauvignon I've ever tasted, it's also a long way from being the worst. Many of the new Chinese wineries, including Silk Road and Grace Vineyards, rely heavily on foreign technical support from French or Australian consultants. But wine drinking is not new to China.

Imports of western wine were highly prized in the 2nd Century AD and a record exists of the planting of Chinese vineyards three centuries earlier.

Although the modern Chinese wine industry has to address the issues raised by some of its critics, it is manifestly the inheritor of a proud tradition and it would be folly to imagine, as the quality of the best wine already shows, that it will not become a major force in the world market - even within the next decade.

WINE BITES

I LOVE Riesling - especially on a sunny spring day.

Top German Riesling is the most undervalued great wine in the world. Dr L Riesling 2007 (pounds 6.79 at Sainsbury's and other supermarkets) is a little miracle of lemony freshness with a soft, lip-smacking touch of sweetness .

Riesling 2007 from Basserman-Jordan (pounds 8.99 at Tesco) is drier, spicier and more mouth filling. Together they express superbly the difference between two of Germany's classic regions, the racy Mosel and the richer Rheingau.

Austria also makes some stonking Riesling. For a very special treat dip your tongue into Markus Huber's Riesling Berg Beerenauslese 2007 (pounds 14.99 at Oddbins for a half bottle). It manages to combine intense sweetness with a silky texture and sherbet-like wake-up call to the taste buds.

CAPTION(S):

OWN STYLE Christopher Wong wants to encourage the Hong Kong wine trade to work with wineries in mainland China; RAPID CHANGE Chinese vineyards are increasing in area by 12% to 15% a year. Picture courtesy of Rivard.