Signature grapes and wines are those that define a country’s viticultural production in a unique way: grapes and wines that typify that country’s output and are not just unlike any made anywhere else, but usually the gold standard. Or, if you prefer, the “new” gold standard. Theres no offending anyone if and when I write that before Argentina came along, Malbec was very much an “also-ran” grape: yes, Cahors produced something interesting from time to time, but the region never ranked amongst the world’s greats (fortunately, that has begun to change somewhat, with better and better wines being made there). And much the same can be said about Carmenère, more or less forgotten in Bordeaux and outcast just about everywhere else (save in Italy, where they grew it labeling it Cabernet Franc, but that’s a story for another time) until Chilean producers started making one delicious wine after another with it. And no grape variety is more inter-twined with South Africa than Pinotage. That combination of rarity and unique goodness is what creates a signature grape and wine. It’s much the same with China: only, given how immense the country is (world’s third largest) you’d expect there to be more than one grape happy to call it its home, and you’d be right. Given the myriad terroirs the country boasts, it’s only logical that different grape varieties would do well there. Three in particular do amazingly well.
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