When the topic of ice wine arises, the conversation inevitably turns to the frozen vineyards of Canada’s Niagara Peninsula or the steep, frosty slopes of Germany. These are the undisputed kingdoms of this rare and luscious dessert wine. But a new and surprising contender has emerged from one of the most extreme viticultural regions on earth, crafting a unique ice wine from a grape variety specifically bred for the cold, a grape that is not part of the European Vitis vinifera family. Welcome to the world of Beibinghong, the “ice wonder” of China’s far northeast.
The home of this remarkable grape is the Changbai Mountain range, in a region bordering North Korea. This is a land of brutal winters, where temperatures regularly plummet to -30°C (-22°F) and beyond. In such a climate, traditional European grape varieties cannot survive without being laboriously buried by hand each winter to protect them from the killing cold. But this is where the story of Chinese ice wine diverges. Instead of relying on European grapes, Chinese viticulturists looked to their own native resources: Vitis amurensis, the Amur grape, a species native to the frigid landscapes of Siberia, Manchuria, and northern China.
Vitis amurensis is a different beast entirely. It is a wild, tenacious vine that has evolved over millennia to withstand extreme cold. For decades, Chinese scientists have worked to hybridize and cultivate selections from this wild parent. The result of this dedicated research is Beibinghong (北冰红), which translates to “Northern Ice Red.” It is a cultivated variety that retains the incredible cold hardiness of its wild ancestor—allowing it to survive on the trellis in temperatures that would shatter a Riesling or Vidal vine—while being selected for its aromatic potential and suitability for high-quality ice wine production.
The pioneer of this uniquely Chinese ice wine is the Changyu winery, which established the “Golden Ice Valley” in Tonghua, Jilin province. Here, they have dedicated hundreds of hectares to the Beibinghong grape. The process of making the wine is a testament to both nature’s power and human patience. The grapes are left on the vine long after the autumn harvest, enduring snow and frost. The harvest can only begin when the temperature has been at or below -8°C (17°F) for a sustained period, often taking place in the dead of night in December or January. The frozen grapes, hard as marbles, are then pressed while still frozen. The water inside remains as ice crystals, allowing a tiny amount of intensely concentrated, syrupy juice to be extracted.
The resulting wine is a singular sensory experience. While it shares the characteristic sweetness and high acidity of all great ice wines, the flavor profile of Beibinghong is unique. It does not have the pure apricot and honey notes of Riesling, nor the tropical profile of Vidal. Instead, Beibinghong offers a more complex, wilder aromatic palette. There are notes of mountain honey and candied citrus peel, but they are interwoven with aromas of wild red berries, dried herbs, and a distinctive, almost savory, undertone that is the signature of its Amur parentage. It is a wine of incredible intensity and purity, a liquid expression of its pristine and extreme environment.
The emergence of Beibinghong is a game-changer for the concept of Chinese wine. While much of the country’s industry is focused on mastering European grapes, this represents a path of true indigenous innovation. It is not an attempt to copy a foreign style, but an effort to create something that could only be born from Chinese ingenuity and the unique terroir of the Changbai Mountains. It is a wine that leverages the challenges of its environment, turning the brutal cold from a liability into the very source of its quality. The ice wonder may be a newcomer on the world stage, but its story is as ancient and resilient as the wild vines from which it came. which it came.
