China's Tonhwa Grape Wine Co., Ltd inked a contract with the
King's Court Estate Winery from Canada to purchase a 70 percent
stake of the Canadian company with 50 million yuan (US$6.6
million), announced the company on Tuesday.
With about 133 hectares of grape plantation and advanced icewine
producing technique from its Canadian counterpart, Tonhwa vows to
expand its ice wine market.
"We would provide the Chinese people the first bottle of classic
icewine with VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) standard produced by
an enterprise acquired overseas," said Wang Xiaoming, general
manager of Tonhwa.
Tonhwa Grape Wine Co., Ltd, established in 1937 and based in
northeast China's Jilin Province, is the first icewine producer in
China. Tonhwa is China's winery at highest latitude. It took the
golden prize in the International Wine Challenge (IWC) last
year.
Canada is the largest producer of icewine, and the King's Court
Estate Winery in Ontario is a supplier of wholesale VQA Canadian
wines to other wineries in bulk or bottles worldwide.
(Xinhua News Agency August 29 2007)
