中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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A vineyard is greening Inner Mongolia's desert while producing high-quality wines. WangKaihao and Yang Fang report in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia. It looks like a mirage. A five-story European-style chateau stands in the Ulan Buh Desert flanked by the HelanMountains, which run south for 200 kilometers and are bisected by the Yellow River. The villa issurrounded by verdant landscapes. This oasis is host to a 250-hectare vineyard surrounded by poplar thickets. The ChateauHansen produces more than 10,000 tons of wine a year from what was barren sand less than adecade ago. "We'd been trying various methods, such as planting trees and bushes, to combatdesertification for years," the vineyard's deputy director Li Aixin says. "But these government-led initiatives didn't embrace the market and didn't gain traction. Wecan't sacrifice our ecology for profits, but it's equally unwise to ignore economic opportunitiesand solely rely on selfless dedication." Wuhai has an abundance of annual sunshine - up to 3,200 hours. Its latitude is similar toFrance's Bordeaux and California's Napa Valley. The vast temperature differences within the24-hour cycle are conducive to the grapes' sugar accumulation. The city was built around large-scale coal mines in the 1950s. Migrants brought grape seeds, and local families often trellised their back yards and grewvines. Vineyards were common in the city. But only 65 percent of grapes survived past a year because soil salinization hovered aroundpH 8 and temperatures plummet to -30 C in winter. Grapes had to be replanted annually, whiletop-tier wines usually comes from aged vines. Technicians in Li's team grafted French varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, CabernetFranc and Merlot, on roots from local wild grapes to create hybrids. They also grew breeds common to China for comparison. Though the new varieties grewslower in the first year, they struggled to survive and bloomed. Others gradually withered. Annual rainfall in the region is 100-200 mm, but evaporation exceeds 3,000 mm. And the precipitation that soaks the ground seeps through the vineyard's sand withoutnourishing the plants. An Israeli drip irrigation system was introduced, and the survival raterocketed to 95 percent. "If you drop a grape seed in a southern province, it will easily grow into a vine," Li says. "But our varieties are much stronger against cold, disease and other ecological inhospitalities.It's not good to always protect plants in greenhouses." Sandstorms pose the greatest threat to seedlings. "No matter how we grow the plants, sandstorms can blast or bury, and kill them," Li says. Poplars became the first shield. But the 10-meter-high trees only blunted the force of the sandblasts, and many seedlings stilldied. In 2008, the vineyard piloted the method of growing grapesand alfalfa on the same ridge. Alfalfa proved to be the fragile grapevines' effectiveguardian. The herb typically lives 5-7 years,providing grapevines time to grow strong enough tosurvive sandstorms. Alfalfa stalks are buried toenhance fertility. "You must respect nature's rules," Li says. "If you cheat soil, it cheats you back. Using scientificapproaches to adapt can best reap nature'srewards." Alfalfa's rewards are the rich nitrogen it gives soiland the nutrition it offers sheep. Sheep have longbeen a staple of the area's largely nomadic herdingeconomy. The vineyard produces 100 tons of alfalfa annuallyin addition to 500 tons of grapes. The alfalfa is sentto a sheep farm 100 km away and returns asmanure that fertilizes organic grapes. The vineyard is set to expand its claim on thedesert, with a 13-hectare poplar and pagoda treenursery. This not only improves the local environment butalso provides economic opportunities to migrantsdriven off their land by ecological hardships. Chen Huizi, a native of Qingyang, Gansu province, struggled with unstable corn yields in herdry and marginally arable hometown. She came to the vineyard in 2008 and trained to become a grape farmer. "We used to depend entirely on nature's mercy," she recalls while pruning a vine. "A stable salary is a blessing." This small self-sustaining ecosystem has been replicated in three larger vineyards with similarhabitats west of Wuhai, in neighboring Ordos and in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region'sWuzhong. The model now covers more than 6,600 hectares. Inner Mongolia University biology professor and Hansen's cultural director Xue Xiaoxianexplains: "The word 'chateau' is usually misunderstood. People usually think of a castle withcellars. Instead, it's an essential form of agriculture." Chateau's Chinese translation - jiuzhuang - literally means "wine manor". "This is a carbon-reduction industry that's one step ahead of the low-carbon model," Xue says. "Grapes are a long-term investment. We've just begun to see results." This progress encourages Chinese winemakers long frustrated with the country's inability toproduce internationally acclaimed wines. "Chinese wine is neglected in overseas markets because its production bases lack uniquecharacteristics," says winemaker Kang Dengzhao, who's also chief technical engineer of thewinery in Hansen. "Wineries often collect grapes from individual growers, making it difficult to stick to a singlestandard. Sometimes the more grapes are grown, the poorer the quality. "But our desert grapes are distinctive." |
內(nèi)蒙古自治區(qū)烏海市北郊，賀蘭山余脈和黃河在這里交匯，綿延的是烏蘭布和沙漠。略顯蒼涼的景致中，一幢五層的西式洋樓宛若海市蜃樓。這里是漢森沙漠有機酒莊。 這塊3700畝的綠洲由楊樹環(huán)抱，里面是一片郁郁蔥蔥的葡萄園。如今的酒莊讓人很難相信十年前這里還是漫天黃沙的不毛之地。 “這么多年以來，我們采取了很多方法來治沙，比如種樹、栽培灌木等等，”漢森下屬的葡萄種植公司副總經(jīng)理李埃新回憶道?！暗沁@些政府主導的運動往往缺乏市場的參與，這樣吸引力也大打折扣。我們不能為了賺錢犧牲生態(tài)環(huán)境，但是現(xiàn)如今為了恢復生態(tài)，講求不計回報的無私奉獻也已經(jīng)不大現(xiàn)實?！?/p> 烏海陽光充足，一年的日照時數(shù)差不多有3200小時。烏海的緯度和世界著名的葡萄產(chǎn)區(qū)法國波爾多和加州的納帕酒莊相近。同時這里巨大的日夜溫差也非常有利于葡萄中的糖分沉淀，對于優(yōu)質(zhì)葡萄的種植來說，烏海再適合不過。 烏海的城市建設始于上世紀五十年代，當時大型煤礦的開采吸引了全國各地的移民蜂擁而至。他們也帶來了葡萄種子，當?shù)厝撕笤旱钠咸鸭艹蔀榱艘淮缶坝^。而之后大大小小的葡萄園也漸漸興起。可是由于當?shù)赝临|(zhì)的鹽堿化(pH值約為8)和冬季動輒零下二三十度的低溫使得葡萄的成活率僅僅約為65%。上等的葡萄酒要求產(chǎn)自樹齡較長的葡萄，而烏海很多種植戶只能年年砍掉死掉的葡萄藤再種上新的，這也成為了當?shù)仄咸旬a(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展的一大制約。 李埃新的技術(shù)團隊于是引進諸如赤霞珠、品麗珠、梅洛等法國葡萄品種，將它們與本地適應力較強的野生葡萄進行嫁接用以培育新的品種。同時他們也同期種植一些中國常見的葡萄品種進行比較。這些新的嫁接品種在第一年旺旺長勢不如其他品種，但是隨后幾年卻開始茁壯成長，而在惡劣的沙漠環(huán)境中，其他品種的葡萄卻漸漸枯萎。 缺水是另一個問題。烏海的年降水量大約在100至200毫米之間，但是年蒸發(fā)量卻在3000毫米以上。這稀缺的降水也會很快滲入當?shù)氐纳迟|(zhì)土壤當中，無法起到滋潤植物的作用。于是，葡萄園從以色列引進了先進的滴灌設備，葡萄的成活率也已經(jīng)超過了95%。 “在南方省份，你往地里隨便丟個種子都能結(jié)出果子，”李埃新說?！暗沁@里的葡萄更耐寒、耐病蟲害，可以適應各種惡劣的環(huán)境。植物在溫室里待久了對自己也沒有啥好處?！?/p> 然而，頻繁造訪的沙塵暴對于葡萄苗來說又是一大威脅。 “不管我們對葡萄多么悉心照料，只要沙暴一來把苗都埋了，所有努力就白費了?！?/p> 楊樹于是成為了保護葡萄園的第一道屏障，但是無法徹底解決沙暴的侵擾，因為部分沙子仍然會透過樹木之間的空隙對弱小的幼苗帶來致命打擊。2008年，葡萄園里開始了一種新的嘗試：在葡萄周圍種上苜蓿。苜蓿是內(nèi)蒙古地區(qū)牧草的主要品種，事實證明它是葡萄苗的有力保護者。苜蓿的生長周期大約是五到七年，這么長足夠讓葡萄生長到強壯得足以抵御風沙的程度。牧草的秸稈也可以大大提高土壤的肥力。 “我們必須尊重自然的法則，”李埃新說。“你若騙地，地一定騙你。用一些科學的手段利用自然因勢利導便會得到回報。” 每年葡萄園產(chǎn)出500噸的葡萄同時也可以產(chǎn)出100噸左右的牧草。這些牧草被送往100多公里以外的一個養(yǎng)羊場，而這些羊也可以提供羊糞蛋作為葡萄種植的有機肥。這塊種植園里所有的葡萄用的都是有機肥。 同時，這里還有一個200畝的苗圃，培育楊樹、槐樹等樹苗，逐步改造沙地，擴大葡萄園的面積。 而這樣的生態(tài)經(jīng)濟已經(jīng)不僅僅造福當?shù)?，也給幾百名來自外地的務工者提供了就業(yè)機會。 陳會紫是來自甘肅慶陽的農(nóng)民，2008年來到烏海。她的老家地處黃土高原，氣候干旱。她種了玉米，但是產(chǎn)量非常不穩(wěn)定。 “一切都是靠天收，”陳會紫一邊給葡萄修枝一邊說。“在這里一個月2000塊的工資已經(jīng)很好了?！?/p> 這樣的循環(huán)經(jīng)濟模式已經(jīng)開始在鄰近的沙漠地區(qū)推廣，漢森酒莊目前已經(jīng)有其他三個葡萄園。一個在烏海市的烏達區(qū)，一個在鄂爾多斯，另一個在寧夏吳忠，總共面積近十萬畝。 薛曉先，內(nèi)蒙古大學教授，同時也是漢森酒莊的文化與品牌總監(jiān)。 “很多中國人對于酒莊這個詞有誤解，”他解釋說。“很多人以為有酒窖，有城堡那才叫酒莊。其實本質(zhì)上來說，酒莊也是農(nóng)業(yè)的一種。這里進行的是減碳經(jīng)濟，比現(xiàn)在流行的低碳經(jīng)濟更進一步。但是種葡萄需要長期的投資，很難立竿見影，現(xiàn)在才剛剛看到成效?！?/p> 這一切成就也鼓舞著當?shù)氐尼劸茙?。我國的釀酒師?jīng)常因為缺乏具有世界影響力的葡萄酒品牌而困擾。 “中國葡萄酒在海外市場影響力還不夠，其中一個原因是各個產(chǎn)區(qū)大多缺乏自己的特色，雷同度太高，”康登昭是漢森葡萄酒廠的技術(shù)總工?！傲硗猓芏嗑茝S從個體種植戶手中收購葡萄，這樣很難執(zhí)行統(tǒng)一的標準，也很難質(zhì)量監(jiān)控。有時候葡萄種的越多品質(zhì)卻越差。” “但是這生長在沙漠的葡萄卻與眾不同，也解決了質(zhì)量監(jiān)控的問題，”康登昭高興地說。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報記者 王愷昊 楊芳 編譯) |
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