Honorary Chairman of World Desert Wine Union Baudouin Havaux hands the certificate of authorization to Song Liang, Party secretary of Wuhai City, making Wuhai the official permanent host city of the World Desert Wine Contest. (Photo/Chinanews.com)
(ECNS) -- Wuhai in North China's Inner Mongolia has become permanent host city of the World Desert Wine Contest.
This was announced by Honorary Chairman of World Desert Wine Union Baudouin Havaux, who is also president of Vinopres S.A. and chairman of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB), at the closing ceremony of the 2016 World Desert Wine Festival on Sept. 5.
Events such as an exhibition of selected Wine Label Design Competition works, the world wine label exhibition, a photography exhibition on desert wine, and China's first scene-based wine show attracted thousands of guests from around the world.
The three-day festival has a catchy slogan -- "The desert is ours, but desert wine belongs to the world" -- which shows local resolve to make fine wine in desert areas.
During the event, a tug-of-war across the Yellow River further revealed the indomitable local will.
Of the events, the most widely-watched was the World Desert Wine Contest, which got special support from CMB.
It was the first time that desert wine areas, often a subentry category, had been put solely on a world-class wine competition.
The contest, under the supervision of CMB, awarded 11 gold and 19 silver prizes, after professional and meticulous review.
Winners were announced at the closing ceremony by the city's CPPCC Chairman Zhen Chenlan, Editor-in-Chief of Mexican wine magazine Reform Carlos Armando Borboa Suarez, Director-general of the Standing Committee of Wuhai Municipal People's Congress Liu Biao, and International Project Manager of Vinopres S.A. Thierry Heins.
Equally fantastic was the moment Baudouin Havaux handed the certificate of authorization to Song Liang, Party secretary of Wuhai City, making Wuhai the official permanent host city of the festival.
"A dream of 550,000 Wuhai people has turned into eternal glory," Song said and happily added that the next World Desert Wine Contest would be held in the city around this time next year.
The 2016 World Desert Wine Festival, sponsored by the Grape Society of China Agricultural Association, Inner Mongolia's Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Wuhai government, ended on Sept. 5.
It set up forums for officials, wine tasters, experts and entrepreneurs and prepared classes for wine enthusiasts, acquiring viewpoints and information from various countries and regions.
Outcomes yielded at the festival include seven cooperation agreements being signed and the establishment of the World Desert Wine Union.
