Burgundy winemakers sign heritage deal with Chinese tea producers

Burgundy’s wine council, BIVB, has signed an agreement with a Chinese tea producers’ association in Fuzhou, to share ideas on protecting their agricultural heritage.

The co-owner of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Aubert de Villaine, flew to Fuzhou city in Fujian province to sign the memorandum of understanding with Wu Yidian, the president of Fuzhou Cross-Strait Tea Exchange Association.

De Villaine is a strong defender of Burgundy’s diverse terroir and is also president of the BIVB committee tasked with securing the French region’s UNESCO world heritage status – a goal that could be achieved next year when Burgundy’s candidacy is set to be examined.

The partnership with Fuzhou is expected to foster a greater exchange of information and ideas on protecting agricultural heritage, following two years of informal contact between the two regions.

In April this year, the historic Jasmine and Tea Culture System of Fuzhou was designated a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Krystel Lepresle, director of Burgundy’s heritage committee, told DecanterChina.com jasmine tea producers’ philosophy in Fuzhou ‘can be compared with the concept of Climat in Burgundy’.

In February 2015, Chinese officials will visit Paris to attend an international conference titled, ‘Agricultural Heritage Systems: models of cultural and economic development’.