Chinese Wine is Evolving - to the Most Premium Ever
The Family Reserve Chardonnay 2017 from Silver Heights, Ningxia Province
Our team visited Helan Mountain, Ningxia province in early June for a wine project where is known as the Bordeaux of China. One of the wineries that we visited is considered the most premium boutique winery in China - Silver Heights.
About the winery:
Speaking of Silver Heights, many of the industry experts are familiar with the winery owner - Emma Gao, who is a leading woman in modern Chinese wine industry. In 2003, when the Helan Mountain area was still covered in rocks and desert, Emma returned to China after gaining her degree in enology in Bordeaux to start her own family winery in the middle of the desert. The father of Emma believed that the region is the best to grow wine - with the perfect temperature for grapes and the very dynamic elements in the soil. Ever since the winery was founded, the Gao family has been growing their vines using 100% organic methods and biodynamic concepts. The winery has a full-time animal keeper to raise sheep, cows, horsed and dogs. Every morning, the animals chill around the winery and eat the grass on the field. All the manure are processed to feed the biodynamic field, which makes the winery a self-sufficient and sustainable ecosystem.
About the products:
Silver Heights is the first Chinese winery that managed to export to Bordeaux, France. Currently the winery exports 75% of the total wine exported from Ningxia Province. Their Family Reserve Chardonnay 2017 was the only Chinese wine that President Xi introduced to the French President Macron when he visited China in 2019.
