China has the grapes but needs its own wine vision

A Chinese worker collecting grapes at a vineyard in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui. Ningxia has a limited history of viniculture, and most of the vineyard workers have never tasted their produce: the region is the homeland of China's Hui Muslim minority, who adhere to the Islamic prohibition on alcohol. Photos: AFP

In a country renowned for forgery, winemaker Jose Hernandez worries China's burgeoning viniculture industry will suffer from blatant copying of Bordeaux's output.

China has the world's second-largest grape growing area, but experts say its winemakers need to innovate rather than imitate established European or New World regions if they are ever to join their ranks.