Some say there will be an early harvest in California this year. If you happen to be a sparkling winemaker, maybe you can jet off to China on a harvest honeymoon once the fruit has come in.

The region of Ningxia in northwest China will be accepting applications on July 13 from foreign wine makers interested in joining the Ningxia Wine Challenge.

• Ten foreign wine makers will travel to Ningxia on August 31 to attend the Helan Mountain Wine Festival and participate in the grape harvest. The wine makers will each hand-select grapes from the same vineyard. They then will each produce one red wine and one white wine at the same facility. The grape varieties to be used will be revealed after the wine makers arrive in Ningxia.
• The organizers will cover the cost of transportation and accommodation for each wine maker’s initial trip to Ningxia and for up to three return visits. When not in Ningxia, the wine makers may contact assistants there to help with monitoring and other tasks involving the wines.
• A panel of judges from overseas and China will judge white wines in September 2013 and red wines in September 2014. The prize for the top wine in each category will be rmb50,000. The prizes for second place and third place will be rmb30,000 and rmb10,000 respectively. Two “honorable mentions” in each category will receive rmb5,000.
• Applications for the Ningxia Wine Challenge will be accepted starting July 13. The deadline for applications is July 27. A panel of overseas and Chinese judges will decide on the ten wine makers who will participate and announce their results by August 1.