A vineyard that lies ‘above the clouds’

A US$300 bottle of wine sold in the United States and Europe is made in the unlikeliest of places: at the foot of the Himalayas in China.

A stone’s throw away from Tibet, Ao Yun’s vineyards are located beneath the sacred Meili mountain at altitudes ranging up from 2,200 meters in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

While wine consumption is soaring in China, it is not known as a major producer, but French luxury giant Moet Hennessy has bet on this remote location to show the Asian country can produce a first-class bottle of red.

It took four years for the company to find the ideal spot in the vast country and the result was Ao Yun, Chinese for “flying above the clouds,” which debuted in 2013.

“The place is magical, it has this wild side,” sadi Maxence Dulou, Ao Yun’s estate manager, as he carefully inspected the grapes at one of the vineyards.

The smooth full-bodied blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc has surprised many wine lovers.

Only 2,000 cases are produced per year and are sold in China, other Asian countries, the United States and Europe.

Moet Hennessy leased the vineyards for 30 years from local farmers in 2012 — a decade after the municipal government encouraged villagers to switch from growing barley to grapevines in an attempt to kickstart the wine industry.

The vineyards are situated in the middle of the Mekong, Yangtze and Salween rivers, a unique location which boasts moderate temperatures all year round so the vines do not need to be buried to prevent them from freezing in the winter.

China’s appetite for wine has matured over the last 10 years, led by its burgeoning middle class. The country is set to become the world’s second largest wine consumer by 2021.

China’s wine market was worth US$71 billion in 2017 and is expected to grow 27 percent in the next five years, according to research group Euromonitor.