IT has been 10 years since the late Hong Kong wine and food merchant, Michael Parry, dreamed of producing quality wine in China.
His Huadong Winery venture on the slopes of Mount Laoshan, in Qingdao, went into receivership before ever earning any international recognition.
But his legacy, inherited by Hiram Walker, is now a thriving vineyard which is winning international prizes and cornering the wine market at Chinese banquets and in Chinese restaurants across the globe.
The crisp, fragrant riesling and chardonnay dry whites of Huadong are China's only exported vintage and varietal wine (specifying origin, single grape variety and vintage), yet domestic demand has increased so dramatically in recent years that 80 per cent of production is consumed on the mainland.
'Our major customers in China are the four-and five-star hotels as they cater for numerous banquets,' Gabriel Tam, a director of Huadong Winery, said.
The major niche for Huadong exports is the Chinese restaurant sector.
