September 20, 2022 witnessed the signing ceremony for the establishment of a strategic partnership between Xige Estate and East Meets West Fine Wines (EMW), in The Middle House, Shanghai. Zhang Yanzhi, owner of Xige, and Olivier Six, CEO of EMW, signed the agreement and announced that EMW has become the exclusive on-trade distributor of Xige in Mainland of China. Both parties will work closely to bring the premium wines of Xige, a winery based in Helan Mountain, Ningxia, to more Chinese consumers.
The cooperation between Xige and EMW started earlier at the beginning this year, but the signing ceremony has been postponed till September because of the epidemic. In the past several months, EMW has leveraged its strengths in the on-trade channels to provide professional market expansion services for Xige and help the estate bring products that are characteristic of the Ningxia terroir to more consumers and reach out to more diversified consumption scenes.
At the signing ceremony, Zhang Yanzhi shared the story of him and the estate. From Bordeaux to Ningxia, Zhang has drawn on his extensive experience in winemaking to craft premium wines in China. In 2017, he founded Xige Estate in the Pigeon Hills, a small wine-growing area in Ningxia, and set out "Making a good wine to express Ningxia terroir", which is at the core of the winemaking process of Xige. Through an ingenious combination of the splendid terroir with modern management approaches and a winemaking process that shows true respect for nature, Zhang strives to establish Xige as a prestigious Chinese fine wine brand.
Zhang spoke highly of EMW, the new partner of his winery, "Xige has heard a lot about EMW and is much impressed by its successful track record and long-term plans for the Chinese wine market." Zhang hoped that EMW would help Xige reach out to more consumer groups that are mature in wine consumption and are particular about the quality of wine so that they will learn more about Chinese fine wines and get to love Chinese fine wines.
According to Olivier, the close relationship between EMW and Chinese wines began long before EMW's partnership with Xige. Since EMW's inception, Edouard and Greg have been interested in Chinese fine wines and in pursuit of partners in Ningxia, Xinjiang and Shandong for over a decade. It is a pleasure for EMW to establish a strategic partnership with Xige, which has very stringent requirements for quality just as EMW does. In future cooperation, EMW will continue to provide professional service in developing new collaborations with numerous on-trade partners, from 5-star hotels, Michelin restaurants, cafes and bistro clients. EMW looks forward to teaming up with Xige to usher in a new era of Chinese fine wines.
For more than a decade, EMW has witnessed the devolvement of Chinese fine wines and has always remained confident in this market. In the future, EMW will continue to introduce premium wine brands to wine consumers in China.
Afterward, Xige global brand ambassador Christelle Chêne invited guests to taste Xige Jade Dove series and N series, and the fine wines the owner specially prepared for the event: Xige Cabernet Gernischt "Cuvée X", and Xige Estate red wines.
Xige Estate red wines
In the coming years, EMW will keep providing a powerful product assortment and robust marketing promotion program to help Xige's brand awareness in a competitive market. We both believe there will be more sparkling moments in the future to work together to enhance the Chinese wine market.
