Beyond Ningxia: Hebei & Yunnan - Wednesday 16/12/2026

Service Description

China’s wine story extends far beyond Ningxia. For this second tasting, we travel east to Hebei and then thousands of kilometres southwest to Yunnan — two dramatically different regions showing just how diverse Chinese wine is becoming. Just outside Beijing, Hebei’s Huailai region has played an important role in the development of modern Chinese wine. It was here, at Domaine Franco-Chinois, that Marselan was first introduced into Chinese vineyards in 2001. The crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache has since become one of the most exciting varieties in Chinese wine, with many believing it has the potential to become a distinctive signature grape for the country. Then the landscape changes completely. In northwestern Yunnan, vineyards climb into the extraordinary mountain valleys around Shangri-La and Deqin, close to the Tibetan Plateau. Here vines are planted at roughly 1,800–2,800 metres above sea level, with some vineyards sitting above 2,500 metres. Intense sunlight, cool nights, steep mountain slopes and enormous changes in elevation create one of the most extreme viticultural environments in the world. Cabernet Sauvignon has become particularly important here, but what makes Yunnan fascinating is less about any single grape and more about where those vines are growing: remote villages, high mountain valleys and vineyards beneath the peaks of the Hengduan and Meili mountain ranges, with some celebrated sites positioned along the upper reaches of the Mekong River. Beyond Ningxia is deliberately about contrast. Hebei represents an important chapter in the development of modern Chinese wine; Yunnan represents one of its most extraordinary frontiers. Two regions. Two completely different landscapes. And another side of Chinese wine that most of us have barely begun to discover.