The Region - East Foothill of Helan Mountain
Located in a “golden zone” for vineyards, the east foothill of Helan Mountain in Ningxia has all the natural conditions needed for premier cultivation including the correct sunlight and temperature range, pollution-free soil, decent rainfall and irrigation. The environment produces aromatic grapes with high sugar levels and moderate acidity. Wines produced at the east foothill of Helan Mountain got the title of Geographical Indications Products given by the Committee of national geography indication in 2003. And it is the only wine-producing region in China that uses the chateau classification system from France to manage local wineries. In 2013, East Foothill of Helan Moutain Wine Region was listed in The World Atlas of Wine.
The support from the government is also the strength to enhance the wine industry. In the late 1990s, the Ningxia agricultural authority began investing time, effort and capital in thousands of hectares of land long deemed inhospital to crops. By now, People’s Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has made the wine industry priority in its strategic planning.
Currently, vine and wine industry is developing rapidly at the east foothill of Helan Mountain. This area is home to 33 thousand hectares of vineyards and over a hundred wineries by 2020.
LOCATION
Ningxia, short for Ningxia Hui (Muslim) Autonomous Region, benefits from a south-north ridge called Helan Mountain. It can prevent Ningxia from severe weather conditions coming from the west. Thanks to the moderate climate in the east foothill, a series of vineyards started to get planted, which became the current premier wine region of China - East Foothill of Heland Mountain.
SUBREGIONS
Along the east foothill of Helan Mountain, six main sub-regions have been established, namely (from North to South in the map):
Shizuishan,
Jinshan international experimental area,
Zhenbeibu,
Yuquanying,
Qingtongxia,
Hongsipu.
History
1980s - Professor Li Hua came to Ningxia for the research of local terroir, firstly bringing up the potential for Ningxia to make great wines.
1984 - Yuquanying winery started its construction, indicating vine growing in a large scale has began.
2003 - Protection of Geographical Indication for Ningxia wine industry was approved.
2011 - Wine of “Jiabeilan 2009” from Helanqingxue winery won the gold medal of Decanter World Wine Awards, presenting Ningxia wine in front of the world.
2013 - The region of the East Foothill of Helan Mountain was included in “the World Atlas of Wine" (the 7th edition).
2017 - Wines from the region won 150 awards in Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.
2019 - Over 800 awards were gained in total for wines from Ningxia, bringing the region to an international level.
Terroir
Located between alluvial fan of Helan Mountain and alluvial plain of Yellow River, the surface of the region is over 200,000 hectares.
Low annual precipitation, adequate sunlight, wide daily range of temperature makes the region ready to grow outstanding grapevines. Average elevation is above 1000 meters; total annual active accumulated temperature (≥10℃) is 3400 - 3800℃; daily range of temperature is 12～15℃; annual precipitation is 150～240mm; total sunlight hours is 1700～2000h; total non-frost days is 160-180 days. However, due to the low temperature of winter, all the vines are buried underneath the soil by the end of November, and un-covered in April of the following year.
Based on the alluvial plain, plenty of gravel and sands can be found in the soil, which contributes great porosity. Light sierozem is dominant in the soil (over 50%), and organic matters are relatively low. pH is between 7.5 – 8.7.
Source: Ningxia Wine Bureau