A view of the coastal section of Longting Vineyard, built up by Song Yan and her husband. Song is one of the youngest winemakers at the forefront of China's growing global presence in the industry. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A new-generation entrepreneur behind a boutique vineyard that focuses on quality and social responsibility helps lead charge of domestic winemakers onto the global stage, Alexis Hooi reports.

Chinese winemaker Song Yan says her home and family are at the heart of her work. "It has always been a very simple and personal approach, with responsibility for loved ones in mind," she says.

Song leads Longting Vineyard, one of the winemakers at the vanguard of China's growing global presence in the industry.

At 38, she is one of the youngest founders of a Chinese boutique winery, one with a heavy focus on quality. The mother of three, who likens Longting to her "fourth child", began to build up the vineyard with her husband Wang Wenjing in 2013 after her studies in Australia and work in the industry, where she realized Chinese viniculture had much to offer in competition with imported products.

"We basically wanted to offer fine wines in the country, to show that Chinese winemaking could be convincingly comparable with the best in the world."

Her vineyard has grown to cover 68 hectares in Yantai city of East China's Shandong province, in the scenic coastal winemaking Penglai area－believed to be beautiful enough for Taoist immortals since ancient times. Yantai is the birthplace of modern Chinese winemaking, which began in 1892 when overseas Chinese industrialist Zhang Bishi invested in the latest viniculture technology to tap the area's natural advantages.

The vineyard itself receives about 2,536 hours of sunshine annually, yearly rainfall of 606 millimeters, has an average annual temperature of 11.9 C and enjoys about 218 frost-free days a year. Its soil comprises shallow brown loam covering sandstone. The ocean breeze that blows over the hills also aids production of distinctively coastal wines.

It makes 50,000 bottles of high-end wines a year, including an acclaimed chardonnay displaying what fans say is an elegance befitting the ethereal attractions of the area. Main plots of petit manseng, cabernet franc and marselan help complete its offering of red, white, rose and sweet white wines. The cellar boasts high-tech geothermal pumps for optimal temperature and humidity levels, complemented with the use of traditional fine-grained French oak barrels. Guest rooms and dining areas complete luxury wine tour experiences, catering to increasingly savvy consumers.

The operation comprises a core team of five people, as well as more than 30 rural residents in the vineyard's fields helping with seasonal grape growing and harvesting. The farmers can earn a good income and share their agricultural experience in local apple cultivation, helping to increase the community's stake in local winemaking.

Chief winemaker Liu Layu spearheads the vineyard's sustainable farming approach－irrigation channels and chemical fertilizers are avoided, with 120 tons of sheep manure and 15 tons of volcanic rock powder per hectare applied to restore soil conditions when construction first rolled out. Thousands of tons of the materials have since been spread on the slopes over the years.

In the fields, unwanted shoots are crushed and mulched to help improve moisture, increase organic matter and boost beneficial microbes in the soil. Leaves are also thinned after flowering to increase the aroma, flavors and color of the grapes.

"Wines are extremely sensitive to their environment and display the characteristics of their surroundings acutely," Liu says. "We wanted to make sure our wines had the clearest expression of our natural beauty."

Song says 2016 was a milestone, when the vineyard produced its first batch of good wine that went on to win international accolades.

"It was challenging at first, with our size and all, but we stuck to our path of looking long term and not compromising on quality. So we were lucky in a sense that we reaped the returns and recognition early on," she says.

Sticking to sustainable development and ecological priorities will continue to be essential for success, since the rewards are ultimately for future generations to enjoy, Song says.

"It's never just a business for us, perhaps especially so for my generation of entrepreneurs in this industry and beyond," she says. "As members of a group who have experienced the fruits and achievements of China's impressive development, such as its reform and opening-up, we should also have a responsibility to society, to help with sustaining all-around, stable progress.

"I can help do that through this industry, to show the world that China is able to make top wines that are also sustainable and responsible."

In terms of social responsibility, Song and her husband are also deeply involved in a charity organization in Beijing which helps children afflicted with major illnesses, and supports education and public welfare projects for poor families. In 2016, she was elected as a deputy to the Penglai people's congress.

Gao Jingtao, head of the Yantai vine and wine bureau, says vineyards reflect the growing potential of Chinese wines on the global stage, riding on Yantai's place as the origin of major winemaking enterprises.

"Chinese wines are about our culture and history as much as our winemakers' increasing economic and technical expertise," he says.

Yantai's winemaking area covers about 19,000 hectares, involving more than 200 major enterprises. The sector is led by 12 big players producing a combined 71,300 kiloliters of wine in 2020－nearly one-fifth of the nation's wine production. Ten businesses recorded annual sales revenue exceeding 100 million yuan ($15.7 million) each, according to municipal figures. The city is also home to more than 500 wine-related businesses, ranging from agricultural machinery companies to bottle makers and cultural tourism operators. Its wines have won more than 500 industry awards worldwide, and Yantai wines together boast a brand value of 85.2 billion yuan.

"Our local government, with its full support for the sector through comprehensive development policies, infrastructure and incentives, understands the priorities as well as the vineyards, so I'm sure it won't be long before Chinese wines take their place firmly among consumers and markets, East and West," Gao says.

Song says nascent awareness of quality Chinese wines among domestic and foreign consumers continues to be a major challenge, particularly when faced with the low prices of foreign competitors－but she remains committed to the path she has taken and is sure of her vineyard's position as a boutique establishment filling an important niche in the sector to prove its competency and capability among the best in the world.

"We have a winning combination of sustainable quality, community involvement and social responsibility," she says.

"We're proud to be a part of Chinese industry and enterprise, in winemaking and beyond, striving for success."