Ao Yun, Shangri-La, Yunnan, China

Description

Ao Yun is a premium Chinese red wine produced by Moët Hennessy Estates & Wines — owners of Dom Pérignon, Krug, and Château d’Yquem, among others — and is widely regarded as the first serious fine wine to emerge from China. The 2013 vintage was the inaugural release, and the Ao Yun project is carefully overseen by Jean-Guillaume Prats, who served as director of the prestigious Second Growth Bordeaux estate Château Cos d’Estournel for 15 years before joining LVMH to lead Moët Hennessy Estates & Wines. The name Ao Yun means “flying above the clouds” — a reference to the clouds that cap the summits of the mountain chains surrounding the vineyards.

Chinese Fine Wine — Yunnan Province

The vineyards for this groundbreaking Chinese wine are located in Yunnan Province in south-western China, close to the edge of the Himalayas near Tibet. The site sits in the foothills of the Sacred Meili Mountain — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — and was selected after four years of careful research. The vines were planted in 2002 as part of a government scheme encouraging farmers to diversify their crops.

The Ao Yun vineyards are distributed across four villages near the legendary city of Shangri-La: Adong, Xidang, Sinong, and Shuori. Ranging in altitude from 2,200 to 2,600 metres above sea level and comprising 314 individual plots totalling nearly 30 hectares (75 acres), the site presents a unique set of growing conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon. The high altitude results in fewer daily sunshine hours but a considerably longer ripening period — 160 days between flowering and harvest, compared with approximately 120 days in Bordeaux. This extended ripening allows the Cabernet Sauvignon to develop exceptional complexity, aromatics, and refinement, fully expressing what is a genuinely unique terroir. All of the vines are farmed organically, worked entirely by hand — or, in some plots, by yak — and the grapes are harvested and vinified completely by hand.

The 2013 vintage is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc, aged for 18 months in 100% new French oak barrels.

Ao Yun Winemaker — Maxence Dulou

The winemaker is Frenchman Maxence Dulou, who was raised in Sauternes and has worked at prestigious properties across Bordeaux, South Africa, and Chile. In 2013, he relocated with his family to Yunnan to take full charge of winemaking and viticulture for this exceptional project. Of the site’s conditions, Dulou has noted: “The altitude also means high light intensity, exceptional photosynthesis, concentration, thick skins, small berries, deeply coloured wines with great freshness.”

Ao Yun is available to buy at Fareham Wine Cellar – one of the very few UK independent wine merchants to stock this rare and collectable Chinese fine wine.