Chinese grape wine producer acquires Canadian winery

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 (6.6 million U.S. dollars), 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.

中国·通化葡萄酒股份有限公司拟投资5000万元人民币收购加拿大皇家冰酒酒庄70%的股份，取得将近2000亩的优质冰葡萄酒种植园和先进的酿酒技术。据了解，中国·通化葡萄酒股份有限公司计划大力发展冰葡萄酒市场，借鉴学习加拿大冰葡萄酒的先进技术经验，并整合国内产业资源及全球营销网络。

“我们将为中国市场提供第一瓶海外收购企业生产的符合VQA标准的顶级冰酒。”中国·通化葡萄酒股份有限公司总经理王晓鸣说。

据介绍，加拿大皇家冰酒酒庄位于安大略省四大葡萄种植区的核心区尼亚加拉半岛，是安大略省最大的冰酒原酒供应商之一，而安大略省占有加拿大75%的冰葡萄酒市场份额。同时，加拿大皇家冰酒酒庄还向瑞典、德国、日本、韩国等地输送冰酒产品。

该酒庄负责人约瑟夫·齐默尔曼在签约仪式上表示，随着中国·通化葡萄酒股份有限公司对加拿大皇家冰酒酒庄的收购以及中国对加拿大葡萄酒工业的投资，两国的葡萄酒酿造业都将迎来新篇章。

中国·通化葡萄酒股份有限公司是中国首家冰葡萄酒生产者，通化地处北纬40°５2′-43°３′，与法国波尔多等世界著名葡萄产地同属北纬40°的葡萄黄金生产带，是中国纬度最高的酿酒葡萄产区，曾在2006年国际葡萄酒烈酒挑战赛中荣获唯一非欧洲产葡萄酿酒金奖。

28日，中国·通化葡萄酒股份有限公司同时举行了成立70周年及中国通化葡萄酒城冠名庆典活动。