China is not a big wine producer
It’s commonly believed that China is a large wine producer. In reality, it’s the world’s eighth largest producer, and the amount of wine produced in China is around 1 percent of all the wine produced in the world. Hong Kong has an advantage over Mainland China when it comes to producing wines.
The country is a major consumer of wine, but most of its wine is imported from other countries like France and Spain. There are not many famous Chinese wines, so if you’d like to taste what China produces, head to one of the local wineries or vineyards in this charming Chinese region!
The history of Hong Kong wine
Hong Kong’s winemaking history is a relatively new one, but that doesn’t mean the region hasn’t earned its place on the world stage.
If you like Chinese food, there’s a pretty good chance you’re already familiar with some of the more popular wines from China. That’s because many of these regions are located in the south of China, closer to culinary hotspots like Hong Kong and Shanghai. And as word got out about their delicious wines, they began to be imported into other parts of Asia—and then the rest of the world!
Hong Kong’s best appellations
Hong Kong’s best appellations are the New Territories and Kowloon. The New Territories is located on the north side of Hong Kong Island, while the Kowloon Peninsula is located on the south side. These regions produce a lot of top-quality wine grapes that rival those found in France and other Old World countries.
Famous Hong Kong wines
Some of the famous Hong Kong wines are as follows:
- Te-Aro Estate, Waiheke Island, New Zealand
- Stone Paddock, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
- Alpha Domus Estate, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
The following are the popular wine producers in Hong Kong:
- Te-Aro Estate
- Stone Paddock
- Alpha Domus Estate
Wines from Hong Kong have won many awards in international wine competitions:
2010: The Art of Merlot (Te-Aro) – 94 points (Gold) & Top 50 at Decanter World Wine Awards 2011
2010: Stone Paddock Syrah – 95 points (Gold) & Top 50 at Decanter World Wine Awards 2011
There are more than a few great Hong Kong wines
If you want to explore Hong Kong wine, we recommend trying out a few different wines in various regions. We’ll talk about some of the best places to go in this section.
First, let’s start with those different appellations. If you want to find good local wine, look for an “A” or “B” rating (or A-), which denotes that the wine has been tested by the Australian Research Centre for Wine and Oenology (Wine Institute) and is not a low-quality stock that has had its grapes harvested outside the region. Also, when you’re looking for a region, sometimes it helps to take it from its geographic location if possible. For example: if you search for “Beijing,” it may bring up all sorts of places in China outside of Beijing itself. In such cases, we recommend searching for other words like “Chongqing” (because Chongqing is capital city of Jilin Province).