Ningxia: China’s Benchmark - Wednesday 28/10/26

Service Description

At the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains lies Ningxia, the region that has become the benchmark for modern Chinese fine wine. High altitude, intense sunshine, a dry continental climate and dramatic temperature shifts between day and night create conditions particularly suited to premium viticulture. Within Ningxia, the Qingtongxia area is home to Xige Estate, one of the producers helping define what contemporary Chinese wine can be. Founded in 2017, Xige is an ambitious modern estate built around something unusually valuable in such a young wine industry: mature vineyards. The estate manages around 1,333 hectares of vines, including approximately 1,000 hectares more than 20 years old. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Gernischt, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc are among the varieties planted across its vineyards. For this tasting, we focus on Xige because it offers a fascinating way to understand Ningxia through a single producer rather than simply sampling unrelated Chinese wines. Its Jade Dove Single Vineyard wines were created specifically to explore individual grape varieties and express the character of Xige’s Dove Mountain vineyards. Of particular interest is Cabernet Gernischt — a historic variety in China that Xige believes has found an especially strong expression in Ningxia, producing one of the estate’s most distinctive wines. This is not a tasting about China as a curiosity. It is an opportunity to taste one estate, one region and one emerging wine culture seriously — and discover why Ningxia has become the reference point for the future of Chinese fine wine.