The OIV symposium in Yinchuan is a great way to show Ningxia's commitment to the wine industry at both a national and international level. Ningxia has the potential to produce excellent red wine. I have seen the quality first hand, and I am excited about the future of the region. If wine is likened to ladies then Ningxia red wines are generous and rewarding yet can be powerful and persistent. Ningxia wine is different and more unique, as the soil and climate provide ideal growing conditions for the grapes and give the wine more concentration and flavors. Good grapes make good wines, and Ningxia has this.

David Tyney, winemaker in Marlborough, New Zealand

I will learn more about the current status and future plans for the Ningxia grape and wine industry from this conference.

I have collaborated with Ningxia Forestry Institute since 2004 and conducted virus disease survey of vineyards with the assistance of colleagues, grape growers and winemakers over the last four years.

It is my hope that grape growers will become more aware of the importance of growing virus-tested grapevines.

Planting grapevines that are found free of damaging viruses is crucial to the healthy and sustainable expansion of the Ningxia grape and wine industry. We shall not repeat the same mistakes as other grape-growing regions made several decades ago.

Wenping Qiu, director of the Center for Grapevine Biotechnology in the William H. Darr School of Agriculture, Missouri State University, the US

I expect to exchange with others experts about this new area project. The more important is to establish and develop the identity of Ningxia wines and work on coping with the hard constraints we face in this place, such as climate and soil.

I have been working on different projects in Ningxia since one year ago and visited many places to understand Ningxia wines. I think there is a nice potential for this area if we can adapt vineyards to constraints and if Ningxia wine keeps its own personality by making wines we can recognize rather than copying. It needs time and passion.

Benoit Beigner, wine consultant at Chateau Pecany in France

This symposium will certainly be interesting and Ningxia viticulture is developing at a good pace.

Alain Carbonneau, a professor of viticulture at Montpellier SupAgro, International Center for Higher Education in Agricultural Sciences, France

(China Daily USA 09/23/2013 page9)