New work model drives wineries to sweet success

In recent years, Danfeng has regarded wine as its most important industry. It has developed a new model that integrates grape cultivation, tourism and picking with production, storage, sales and the wine culture experience.

The county has also established a high-quality grape planting base that covers about 2,333 hectares and has an annual storage capacity of 30,000 metric tons, according to Guo Angui, Danfeng's Party head.

It has registered 53 trademarks, developed nine fruit wine companies, four cork stopper companies, and 80 stores and e-commerce outlets. The comprehensive output value exceeds 1 billion yuan ($137 million), benefiting more than 2,100 households. More than 3,600 people are employed in grape cultivation, wine production and related work.

Wanwan, a village in Danfeng's Dihua town, is located in the core production area for wine grapes in the Danjiang River Valley.

The local farmers used to grow crops, but in recent years they have rented their land to wineries or grown wine grapes themselves, which has boosted their incomes.

For example, in Dihua's Liangling community, 30 households manage 13.3 hectares of grapes under the guidance of experts from Northwest A&F University. As a result, they earn an extra 150,000 yuan a year.