Hungarian barrel maker Trust Hungary is to build a cooperage in the Huailai area in China's Hebei Province after signing a joint venture deal with a local wine producer.
Trust Hungary and the owner of China's Huailai Amethyst Winery, Huailai Amethyst Manner Co, will each hold a 50% stake in the new venture.
The deal is another example of China's fledgling wine industry reaching beyond its borders for technical advice as a growing number of the country's producers become more professional.
Huailai Amethyst winery is located in the Yanhuai Valley and mainly produces wines from five key international grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Muscat and Syrah. It also has plantings of several other varieties, including Semillon, Gewürztraminer, Marselan, Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Petit Manseng, according to the winery’s website.
'First, naturally we must build a cooperage facility in the Huailai area at or near Huailai Amethyst Winery,' said James Molnar, president and managing director of Trust Hungary and its sister company, Trust International Corp.
'Equally important is that we must lay down oak stave sets to support 10,000 barrels per annum. As oak staves must age up to three years before being used in barrel construction, this represents a sizable investment,' he told DecanterChina.com.
Currently, the joint venture partners have no plans to use Chinese oak in their barrels. Instead, oak will be imported from Hungary.
Molnar said his company has learnt from experience in China that Hungarian oak works well with Chinese consumers' palates.
He argued this was because, 'while American oak often yields coconut and vanilla flavours with a whisk(e)y oak lactone notes and French oak is often very glyceral and sweet, Hungarian oak provides sweetness by highlighting the fruit, consistently provides a full mid-palate and, most importantly for China, adds some spice nuances.
'Given that the Chinese are not as sweet or dessert-oriented as Europe and the US we have seen that sensibility translate into wine.'
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