Rothschild plants vines in China

The famed French wine-maker Domaines Barons de Rothschild is planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah vines in the Shandong Province of China.

The wine-maker has acquired a 62-acre property on China’s Penglai Peninsula, which is about 300 miles from Beijing. The region has an ancient history of viticulture and archaeologists from Shandong University have dated the origins of Chinese grape wine back more than 4,600 years.

The Shandong Province is the top wine-producing region in a country whose total production in the first quarter of 2011 has been valued at US$1.14 billion.

Baron Eric de Rothschild, who took over the management of Lafite in 1974, said, “I am very pleased to develop a vineyard in a country where the interest in fine wines is increasing every year. It is particularly exciting to participate in the creation of an exceptional Chinese wine.”

Lafite has been working on the project since 2008, in partnership with CITIC Group, a state-owned investment company of the People’s Republic of China. They hope to have a winery building constructed by the end of next year, and the first wines released in 2015.