▲Located in the Great Wall of Minquan in Henan, Red Wine is one of the earliest wine production factories established in the mainland. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)
Reporter Ren Yifang/Henan report
In addition to the Helan Shanxia Winery in Ningxia, the Great Wall of Minquan Red Wine in Henan Province is one of the earliest wine production factories in the mainland, and many mainland people in the 80s enjoyed "affordable" red wine for the first time, all of which were produced by Minquan Winery. The reporter of "EToday" entered this old winery with a long history for the first time, and now it is moving towards the process of modern intelligence, and combined with e-commerce and other channels, even if the epidemic has been impacting for three years, the performance will immediately resume growth this year, and it is expected to exceed 150 million yuan.
▼ The "affordable" wine of the early Minquan Winery was a small blessing for the people of the mainland in the 80s. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)
In the 80s, the mainland people had their first experience of "affordable" red wine
Minquan wine is a special product of Minquan County, Shangqiu, Henan Province, speaking of the history of the origin and the Yellow River Ancient Road, Qing Dynasty Xianfeng five years (1855), the Yellow River underwent the 28th transformation and the last transformation of the Yellow River Ancient Road, with special soil, Minquan County Yellow River Ancient Road production area has become one of the oldest production areas in the mainland's top ten production areas, the continent's top ten wine planting production areas.
Helan Mountain in Ningxia, Minquan County in Henan Province and Bordeaux in France have the same latitude and longitude, and the Yellow River Ancient Road production area has unique natural conditions, such as sufficient sunshine and large temperature difference between day and night. For example, in the grape planting area north of the Yellow River, the rhizomes must be buried with soil in winter, otherwise water will be lost. 2. Considering the rainy season, Yunnan production areas must build rain shelters. In the Yellow River old road production area in Henan, there is sufficient sunshine and a large temperature difference between day and night, so there is no need to bury and protect grape rhizomes in winter, which is conducive to planting.
▲In the early liquor making process of the distillery in the 80s, semi-automatic production was very trendy. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)
"A lot of people in the '80s first experienced affordable red wine from the beginning of civil rights. "The winery was founded in 1958, and the creation of the Minquan trademark was inspired by Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three People's Principles, namely people's livelihood, democracy, and civil rights. The product is divided into sweet white and sweet red, the former has a delicate taste, the latter is ruby red, the taste is plump and layered, as for the Henan red trademark was successfully registered in 1999, and then maintained tens of millions of revenue. (Unit: RMB, same as below)
The Minquan Winery also opened up the local wine myth and the development of industrial employment. In the mid-80s of the 20th century, the grape planting area of Minquan County once reached 100,000 mu, accounting for a quarter of the grape planting area in the whole continent, becoming the largest grape planting county. In 1986, Minquan wine sales reached the first place, and in Minquan, the wine industry accounted for 71.4% of the tax revenue, and was exported to Japan, Europe, the United States and other countries and regions, and won various awards at home and abroad for its mellow taste.
▼Minquan wine is a specialty of Minquan County, Shangqiu, Henan Province. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)
Only new wines, not vintage wines
The reporter of "EToday" went to Tianming Minquan Winery for an interview, and the internal wine has been stored with intelligent temperature control, and Minquan Winery uses a single brewing method to produce wine, that is, a grape only makes one wine, and named the wine according to the name of the grape that makes this grape. The fermentation process varies according to the variety, and the fermentation period varies from three months to up to one and a half years. The winery uses intelligent temperature control to store wine to ensure the quality and taste of the wine.
"Bordeaux barrels are imported from Australia, with a capacity of 225 litres per barrel, which can hold exactly 300 bottles of wine. These equipment and processes ensure the quality and taste of Minquan wines. Zhao Chenghao, the sales department of Tianming Minquan Distillery, introduced.
▲ The storage cycle of Tianming civil rights wine is generally divided into 6 to 18 months. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)
Zhao Chenghao further said that the storage cycle of Tianming Minquan wine is generally divided into 6 to 18 months, and the storage cycle of dry white is 2 to 6 months. Oak barrels have a shorter lifespan and are scrapped after 1 to 3 uses.
Can the buyer buy the vintage? Zhao Chenghao explained that the wine stored in oak barrels is of high quality and long storage time, including site costs and manual maintenance costs. Therefore, Minquan Winery does not make vintage wines but only new wines, therefore, Minquan Winery does not make vintage wines, and the needs of buyers cannot be satisfied.
▲Red wine has gradually entered the daily dining table of mainland people. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)
The revenue of old brand red wine has increased from tens of millions to hundreds of millions
When it comes to the wine competition market, not only foreign wineries, but also the mainland is also very "involuted", especially in recent years, imported red wine and Japanese and Korean sake have become the mainstream of young people's consumption, which has also made the mainland's local red wine begin to decline, and the old brand Minquan winery is outdated in terms of packaging and marketing.
On February 9, 2018, Tianming Group, founded by Henan entrepreneur Jiang Ming, was merged and reorganized into "Tianming Minquan Wine", and made many adjustments in marketing, transforming and upgrading the old factory. Zhao Chenghao pointed out, "Before 2019, the sales of Minquan wine were probably less than 30 million yuan, and we have exceeded 100 million yuan in 19 years after the acquisition. 」
With the revitalization and transformation of the old factory, Minquan wine can be purchased in all seasons in Henan Province, and online sales of e-commerce have been developed, including e-commerce platforms such as JD.com and Tmall, as well as offline channels such as supermarkets. Even though affected by the epidemic for three years, sales have maintained a stable and slight growth, and the current channel has given priority to domestic demand in the mainland.
When it comes to future goals, Tianming Minquan Wine aims to build a high-end brand and provide high-quality red wine products, and this year's sales target is expected to reach 150 million. Although the epidemic has an impact on all walks of life on the mainland, as well as on the global economy.
Zhao Liya, Technical Director of Tianming Minquan Wines, said, "After the end of the epidemic, people are more health-conscious, wine is moving to the table of ordinary people, and the wine market has a continuous upward trend. 」
▼ Henan Tianming Minquan Winery transforms into a "high-end" wine. (Photo/Photo by reporter Ren Yifang)