Although the taste and production of French wine cannot be surpassed, China has overtaken France as the world’s second largest wine grower by area under cultivation.

It currently has 10.6 per cent of the world’s wine area against 10.5 per cent for France. Spain leads the list with one million hectares under vine followed by China with 799,000 hectares.

No doubt, France stills holds the title of being the biggest producer, with 46.7m hectolitres made last year.

Some also predict that very soon China could move into first place, pushing Spain and France further down.

An Asian country overtaking major European players in this sector is both surprising and promising. It also speaks for the fascination for wine among Chinese.

Ever since the French introduced wine to this country, China’s interest in wine and its production has increased with years.

A year ago, China became the world’s largest consumer of red wine, leaving behind France and Italy, according to a report by Vinexpo.

It is the red wine that wins the heart of Chinese. This trend is seen by some as a preference of colour rather than the taste. In China, red is associated with good luck and also has affiliations with the Communist government.  Red wine has also become the symbol of the elite class. On the other hand, white is the colour of mourning and is seen at funerals.

China’s winemaking industry has also grown over the years, and with globalization it wouldn’t be surprising to find a bottle of Chinese wine decorating the shelves in US or Canada.

France may have its own place in the market, but China with its long tradition of fermentation and distillation of local wine is giving tough competition to the European countries.

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The chain is also casual and very popular with youthful generations. The name ‘Yo!‘ encourages a positive and lively atmosphere further promoted by a young workforce specifically trained on all menu preparations.

An additional reason behind the food chain’s success is diversification. We regularly discuss new ideas and menu concepts,” says Ashish Kapur, co-founder and managing director of Yo! China. “We continue adding new items to our menu like Mongolian chicken and Kung Pao vegetable, an array of dim sums etc. We do tweak the preparations to a certain extent to suit the palate of the consumers.”

Founded in 2003, the Chinese/Indian food outlet currently has 60 points of presence across 22 cities. Kapur confirmed that in 2015 the restaurant and delivery chain was looking to increase that figure to 200 outlets.

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During the first edition of the festival in Rio earlier this year, more than fifteen restaurants and bars offered specialty hamburger dishes from May 23rd through May 31st.

Founder of the festival, Claudio Baran, has told the media his intention in creating the event was to help shed the image of the burger solely being a greasy fast food item. Baran hopes it will help people see burgers as serious culinary creations that can be considered gourmet.

The Burger Fest began in Sao Paolo five years ago, and Rio’s first rendition of the festival occurred this past May. Of the restaurants participating in this edition of the festival, nine will be creating new menu items especially for the event.

Among the establishments presenting special burgers are contemporary bistro Miam Miam in Botofogo, which will be serving a seasoned burger with bacon, onions and garlic, and popular bar Baretto-Londra in Ipanema, which will be offering mini cheeseburgers made with filet mignon and topped with cheddar cheese and arugula sprouts.

VitaSete, also in Ipanema, will be offering the “Forrest Gump Special Edition,” a 220g sirloin burger topped with grilled mushrooms, mushroom sauce and cheese. The dish will be accompanied with fries or salad for R$44.

The complete list of participating establishments can be found on the festival’s Facebook page.

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