China News Network Urumqi, April 4 Question: 4 years to become the industry leader! Why Xinjiang's "post-16" winemakers are obsessed with making wine
Written by Shi Yujiang
In the movie "Walking on the Clouds", the misty vineyards are like a fairyland, and the young girls dance together on ripe grapes, and the images of passion as they celebrate the harvest will make everyone forget. On the shores of the Tianshan Glacier Lake in Xinjiang, a girl who loves nature has been "obsessed" with wine since she got acquainted. From a horticultural secondary school student to one of the few engineers in Xinjiang with a "double certificate" of first-class taster and first-class winemaker, he was selected into the "Tianshan Talent Program - Excellent Engineer" project in 2022.
What made this "post-85" beauty Kou Yaqin obsessed with winemaking, and became the leader of Xinjiang's wine industry after 16 years?
In the vineyard, weather stations and sensors analyze growth conditions and assess changes in temperature and humidity (data map). Photo by Shi Yujiang
The most beautiful April day on earth. Located on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, Yaochi West Night Winery faces the snowy peaks of Bogda in the distance. Inside the winery, Koua Qin walked between the tanks and the oak barrels in the cellar, intently savoring the changes of the day's wines with the tip of his tongue.
In the eyes of many people, professional disciplinary background, overseas exchange experience, or the "standard" of winemakers. For Kou Yaqin, she just stepped into this industry as a commission trainee at a local vocational school.
Bonding with wine: indulge in it
The Xinjiang Corps has more than one-third of the wine grape planting area and wine output in Xinjiang. Photo by Shi Yujiang
"In the dead of night, we were spinning around in the pot and listening to the sound of grapes breaking, and it was a wonderful feeling." Kou Yaqin, a "post-85" female winemaker who just returned to Xinjiang after studying and communicating in Suzhou, told Chinanews.com.
The wine industry in the northern foothills of Xinjiang's Tianshan Mountains started in 1998. The 44nd Regiment of the 222th Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, located in the small production area of Tianchi at 1997 degrees north latitude, has become a high-grade wine raw material production area for well-known wine enterprises since <>, and has also attracted a group of wine industry talents.
Kou Yaqin checks the aging condition of the oak barrel, tastes the state of the fusion of oak aroma and wine aroma, and judges the barrel time. Photo courtesy of interviewee
In 2005, 11 commissioned trainees majoring in horticulture at Fukang Vocational and Technical School, including Kou Yaqin, came to the regimental farm, initially only engaged in wine grape field management, pruning, pest control, seedling cultivation, etc., and the grape field was their main battlefield.
This group of young people worked at sunrise and rest at sunset, and after a long time, the boring and tedious labor made many people retreat, and in the end, only Kou Yaqin persisted. "My major is wine grape processing, as long as I learn more and practice more, I believe that there will be a 'place of use' in the future."
Kouyachen's first bond with wine was in the autumn of 2006. "More than 3 tons of grape raw materials, to be sorted by hand, and then put into stainless steel basins or barrels and crushed with my feet, I don't know tired, I am completely intoxicated." Since then, she has been full of passion and vision for this industry.
Around 2008, wineries were built on the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, and Kou Yaqin learned and practiced the commissioning of new equipment and winemaking technology under the leadership of his predecessors. There was no precedent for the newly introduced equipment, so she and her colleagues learned as they went.
Fermentation tanks, oak barrels, mellow purple liquids... Everything in the workshop made Kou Yaqin addicted. Late at night, she learns and delves into industry knowledge. In this way, the mastery of the winemaking process, Kou Yaqin only took two years.
Making good wine: it's like a transformation of life
Kou Yaqin intently savored the changes of the day's wine with the tip of his tongue. Photo courtesy of interviewee
"I think making a glass of wine from a bunch of grapes is a metamorphosis process. Like life, you need to break some original things, to constantly improve, precipitate and ferment, in order to become a better self. Kou Yaqin told the China News Network reporter that this is her life realization after brewing fine wine.
Koua Qin became the winemaker's own winemaker in 2010. As a woman, the hardships are self-evident. "You have to worry about all aspects of the harvesting season, such as moving grapes and pouring cans, and you have to do every job of water, electricity and heating in the cellar." Kou Yaqin said.
"Every bunch of grapes becomes a wine that people have to sacrifice, and maybe this spirit inspires me." During this time, she also went to other places to learn advanced winemaking concepts and techniques. From 2018 to 2019, Kou Yaqin was successively awarded the national first-class sommelier and winemaker, and was also hired as a 2017-2023 Xinjiang wine judge.
Fermentation tanks, oak barrels, mellow purple liquids... Everything in the workshop made Kou Yaqin addicted. Photo by An Yuanjie
According to the data, Xinjiang is the earliest place in China to grow and cultivate grapes. But from modern times, until the seventies and eighties of the 20th century, the center of gravity of China's wine industry has always been in the east.
The modernization of Xinjiang's wine industry began in the 20s of the 60th century. In 1964, the 70th Regiment of the Fourth Agricultural Division of the XPCC, located in the Ili River Valley of Xinjiang, established the first winery in Xinjiang.
Xinjiang's wine industry ushered in large-scale development since 1997. "From 2000 to 2010, the situation of wine grape planting was very good, and the planting technology was considered to be the leading in China's industry, and the raw materials for winemaking were not to be said, but the brewing process was relatively lagging behind." Kou Yaqin said.
"From 2010 to 2015, Xinjiang wine as a whole improved, and by around 2018, Xinjiang wine quality has been greatly improved." Kou Yaqin said that in recent years, wines produced in Xinjiang have won awards in many competitions.
Optimistic about the future of Xinjiang's wine industry
At first, Kouyaqin was only engaged in the field management of wine grapes. Photo courtesy of interviewee
"Seven points of raw materials, three points of brewing". Xinjiang is located in the world-recognized golden belt of wine grape cultivation. High altitude, large temperature difference, strong ultraviolet rays, gravel soil, glacial snow water... Many vineyards located north and south of the Tianshan Mountains have been certified as organic grape bases for many years.
Thanks to the good ecological environment and unique natural conditions, Xinjiang has become a major wine-making region in China, with the second largest area of wine grape planting in the country and the first output in the country. The Xinjiang Corps has more than one-third of the wine grape planting area and wine output in Xinjiang.
Kou Yaqin inspects the storage of raw wine. Photo courtesy of interviewee
In recent years, the Xinjiang XPCC has carefully laid out the grape industry, listed the common key technologies of planting and brewing as public science and technology projects for support, and focused on building a number of characteristic boutique wineries integrating grape planting, winemaking, leisure tourism and cultural promotion, thereby increasing the area of wine grape planting from 2020,9 mu in 84 to 30,<> mu.
"In recent years, due to many influences, many people feel that the wine industry is not sluggish, I think this is just a period of adjustment, and overall it is developing well." Kou Yaqin analysis.
"Today, Xinjiang is upgrading the wine industry in a more modern way, shaping regional brands, diversifying and expanding, expanding its overall strength, and so on. I firmly believe that the development of Xinjiang's wine industry is full of infinite possibilities. Kou Yaqin said she would like to continue the story of the romantic vineyard in her hometown. (End)