AO YUN, YUNNAN PROVINCE
Having cemented its cult status this year by being the first Chinese wine traded on exclusive wine distribution network La Place de Bordeaux, Ao Yun had already become a byword for Chinese luxury wine. The “wine from Shangri-la” would always have had a leg up from a storytelling perspective, but its unique location, some 2,500m above sea level in a Himalayan mountain valley, is more than just a marketing feature: it lends the wines intense colour and aroma but also a delicacy and lift that stand in stark contrast to the more robust wines of Ningxia.
This year marks the mainland Chinese release of two new projects hinted at in my last discussion with estate director, Maxence Dulou: single-village wines made from the individual components of the Ao Yun blend (Xidang, Adong, Shuori and Sinong, the last of which was not bottled separately in 2018); and the winery’s first white, a chardonnay from Adong village, which is the highest site at 2,600m. Ao Yun itself includes merlot for the first time and is now being partially aged in Chinese earthenware jars to keep new oak notes in check.
ADONG CHARDONNAY 2018
Sumptuous tangerine and lime blossom cool to unripe nectarine with a wash of barley sugar and toast to round out the finish. The texture is pleasantly oily.
XIDANG 2018
This site has the warmest soils and air, but even so, the wine has a core of acidity and porcelain tannins. The exterior is rich with sweet cherry, red plum, cloves and black chocolate.
Blend: 63% cabernet sauvignon, 17% cabernet franc, 20% petit verdot
ADONG 2018
The most upright and nervous of the three, Adong is assertively floral to start, with a tight, acidic, almost saline palate and peppery, brambly fruit.
Blend: 78% cabernet sauvignon, 14% syrah, 8% cabernet franc
SHUORI 2018
Already planted in 2000, Shuori village is furthest from the cooling Mekong.
It has a plump, amiable bearing with bouncy purple fruit that darkens into dried fig on the finish. Cedary aromas and satiny texture keep the overall effect refined.
Blend: 75% cabernet sauvignon, 25% cabernet franc
AO YUN 2018
A return to form after the burlier, darker expression of 2017, 2018 is precise but lyrical, a reflection of the generally mild growing season and warm, generous harvest. A hint of menthol and leafy greens opens into a lucid, tart cherry wave rounded out with coffee and savoury herbs. Fluid texture and pliant tannins complete the elegant picture.
Blend: 60% cabernet sauvignon, 19% cabernet franc, 10% merlot, 7% syrah, 4% petit verdot
PURPLE AIR COMES FROM THE EAST 2016
A real contrast with the earlier wines, the poetically named Purple Air (a Daoist phrase that portends the coming of auspicious people or events) brings exactly that: lilting, ethereal notes of violets and potpourri. The palate is poised and serene, with gracile tannins, illuminating acidity and more moderate alcohol (14% vs 15% for the Grand Vin). Notes of cumin and cedar overlay medicinal red fruit with a tonic bitterness.