Why build a $100 million Disneyland-like wine oasis in the Chinese desert?

In China's far-west Xinjiang desert, not far from where Marco Polo traveled the Silk Road, sits a new wine oasis. It's called Chateau Baron Balboa. Changyu, China's largest winery, built it to provide the visitor a Disneyland-like "wine experience" in the dusty desert.

The road to Changyu's wine oasis, Chateau Baron Balboa, in the desert of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

Changyu, China's largest winery, built Chateau Baron Balboa wine oasis to attract visitors. The marketing idea is to provide a Disney-like "wine experience," then convert them into wine consumers.

Professional wedding photographers are lined up two or three deep at key locations to take snaps of newly weds. Changyu's Chateau Baron Balboa, in the desert of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

Changyu Chateau Baron Balboa near Shihezi, Xinjiang, is designed to be a Disney-like tourist destination under the shell of a European-style chateau. China's largest winery, Changyu,wants the visitor to experience wine culture at all of its four Sino-based chateaux, and then, of course, buy more wine. In the near future, Changyu plans to build at least two more chateaux, plus a whole wine city, which by itself will reportedly cost about 6 billion yuan (about US $1billion), near its headquarters in Yantai, Shandong Province.

Changyu's Chateau Baron Balboa, in the desert of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

Changyu's Chateau Baron Balboa, in the desert of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

Workers trim Cabernet sauvignon vines by hand at Changyu's Chateau Baron Balboa, in the desert of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

General Manager and Winemaker of Changyu Chateau Baron Balboa in Xinjiang, Hao Dongshu, holds a copy of my book China the New Wine Frontier to the chapter on sister winery, Chateau Changyu AFIP Global near Beijing. These are two of Changyu's current chateaux.

Yes, they do actually make wine at Changyu Chateau Baron Balboa, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

A specially-designed-for-the-tourist-walkway totally encased in glass and Greek-style columns, showcases the Chinese made bottling line on the left and a cellar housing French-oak barrels on the right.  Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

To the Chinese, Europe, especially France, means good wine. So Changyu hopes to set a "wine experience" mood for the visitors.

Somehow, even this bronze rock star musician in the Chateau garden area must be part of the "wine experience" Changyu offers visitors.

When I found this dog-headed photographer statue, I knew that this had to be the right place to take a great photograph.

All images © Janis Miglavs 2015
janis@jmiglavs.com

Xinjiang Province in one photo

This photograph sums up the Xinjiang Province for me: grapes, nuclear power, lots of construction and incredible landscape.

Premium Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard where Citic Guoan Winery (known as Citic Guoan Wine Sales Co., LTD and formerly Suntime International Wine Company) gets grapes, with a nuclear power plant and Bogda Peak in the Tian Shan Mountain range, Fukang, Xinjian Province, China, Asia.

Why a Scottish Castle Winery in.......China?

So why is a Hong Kong business man building a Scottish Castle winery in ...... China?

Please don't throw blog tomatoes. But suddenly I realized I couldn't remember the exact quotes from my recorded intimate interview with that Hong Kong business man, Chris Ruffle. It's very foggy-eyed late the night before I head for St Helena for my week-long Master Wine course at the Culinary Institute of America. The Ruffle interview was long and noisy. I will get it together, I promise. Great story. Great vision. Great cost.

Treaty Port Winery was still under construction when I visited in May of 2009. The Winery/Inn will be completed just in time for our China Photo/Wine Tour in September 2010.

Creating experiential mind visuals

Since I haven't yet posted The September China Photo/Wine Tour information on my web site, I wanted to mention some things on our tour that few, if any, foreigners ever see.

There's The Yellow Valley. It's something like a mini Grand Canyon, but without the tourists. Like none. The four or five times I walked there while staying at Grace Winery, nary a tourist–Chinese or foreign; only friendly farmers tending orchards and vineyards for survival. To the local farmers it's just another landscape to grow crops and tend sheep. I watched a sheppard guide his flock from the valley bottom up vertical canyon walls. The whole experience created a permanent visual for me.

What are the visuals for the sheppard? Beauty or burden?

Oh, I forgot, the tour is September 5-16, 2010. We visit 5 wineries, photograph harvest, talk with winemakers, see the Great Wall, walk a part of the 109 acres of Tienanmen Square, and experience Yellow Valley.

A First for China and me: A Photo/Wine Tour

Looks like it's going to happen. And I'm getting very excited. I'll be leading a China Photo/Wine Tour September 5-16. By the way, there will be lots of selected culture sites too. First, take a look at just three of the wineries we will visit.
Are these anything like the Chinese Wineries you imagined?
Oh, you didn't know that the Chinese did wine. Yes, they do. China has more vineyard acreage than the United States and South Africa combined and produces more wine than Germany.
Let me know what you think of these wineries. And check out the winemakers.

Chateau Changyu AFIP winery in Beijing area.


Chateau Junding in Shandong Province.

Chateau Huadong-Parry in Shandong Province. That's the beautiful coastal city of Qingdao, beer capitol of China, in the background.


And check out these winemakers we will meet. Does this clash with your imagination of a Chinese winemaker?

Ruan Shilli, winemaker and vineyard manager standing on the castle wall three floors up at Changyu AFIP. (For your first Chinese lesson: the Chinese put the last name first.)

Xia Gloria, winemaker at Huadong Parry in Shandong Province.


Since harvest happens during our trip, we will opportunities to meet vineyard workers. For the dentists that join our trip, China could be a big market. Many workers I've photographed have teeth that probably have never seen a dentist's drill.