Grape variety

Cabernet Sauvignon

赤霞珠chìxiázhū

China's most planted red grape and the backbone of its best reds

Type: Grape variety
Colour: red
Family: The classics
Origin: Bordeaux, France
Main regions: Ningxia, Xinjiang, Shandong, Hebei, Yunnan, Gansu, Shanxi
Literal meaning: Red cloud pearl

Taste profile

Body
LightFull
Body: 4 out of 5
Tannin
LowHigh
Tannin: 4 out of 5
Acidity
LowHigh
Acidity: 3 out of 5
Fruit
SubtleIntense
Fruit: 4 out of 5

Aromas

blackcurrant
black cherry
cedar
tobacco
dark chocolate
Blackcurrant and black cherry
with cedar
tobacco and
after oak ageing
coffee and dark chocolate.

Sweetness · dry

Blackcurrant and blackberry, cedar and sometimes a touch of green pepper or mint, with firm tannins that soften with age.

Cabernet Sauvignon is the king of Chinese vineyards. With around 60,000 hectares, it is by far the country's most planted red grape and the backbone of its most famous wines, including the Jia Bei Lan 2009 that won China's first top international trophy. Its Chinese name, 赤霞珠, means 'red cloud pearl'.

The model

When China built its modern wine industry, Bordeaux was the model, and Cabernet Sauvignon was the obvious choice. Today it is by far China's most planted wine grape, with around 60,000 hectares.

The wines that made history

China's most famous wines are Cabernet-based: Jia Bei Lan by Helan Qingxue, which won an International Trophy in London in 2011; Ao Yun, from the Himalayan foothills of Yunnan; and many of Ningxia's classified estates.

A Chinese accent

In the high desert of Ningxia and Xinjiang, intense sunshine ripens the grapes fully, while cold nights keep freshness. At altitude in Yunnan, the wines gain concentration. The best Chinese Cabernets combine New World ripeness with a structure that reminds many tasters of Bordeaux.

History in China

Modern Chinese winemaking began in 1892, when Zhang Bishi founded Changyu in Yantai, Shandong, and imported hundreds of thousands of European vines. Many failed to adapt, and he grafted them onto hardy wild vines from northeast China to save the venture.

Cabernet Sauvignon became China's leading red grape with the growth of the modern wine industry. Its prestige, its association with Bordeaux and its ability to ripen in very different climates made it the first choice for new vineyards from Shandong to Xinjiang. In 2011, a Cabernet-led blend from Ningxia, Helan Qingxue's Jia Bei Lan 2009, won an International Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards, proving that China could make world-class Cabernet.

Growing

In Ningxia and the other northern regions, vines must be buried every winter to survive temperatures below –20 °C. The yearly bending weakens the trunks, so vines rarely live beyond about twenty years. Helan Qingxue replanted its Cabernet in 2013 with French CS169 clones grafted onto 5BB rootstock.

The climate gives Chinese Cabernet a particular character. According to Professor Li Demei, the high altitude and cool nights of Ningxia mean that this late-ripening grape can show cool-climate flavours, despite the region's abundant sunshine.

Cabernet Sauvignon is not only made into red wine in China: Changyu's Longyu estate in Ningxia makes a dry white from it, pressing the free-run juice of the black grapes before the skins can give colour.

Where it grows

Ningxia

宁夏

Helan Mountain East · 贺兰山东麓 · Hèlánshān dōnglù

Xinjiang

新疆

Desert vineyards of the Tianshan Mountains · 天山 · Tiānshān

Shandong

山东

Yantai and Penglai · 烟台 · 蓬莱 · Yāntái · Pénglái

Hebei

河北

Huailai and Changli · 怀来 · 昌黎 · Huáilái · Chānglí

Yunnan

云南

Shangri-La and the Himalayan foothills · 香格里拉 · Xiānggélǐlā

Gansu

甘肃

The Hexi Corridor · 河西走廊 · Héxī zǒuláng

Shanxi

山西

The Taiyuan Basin and the Loess Plateau · 太原盆地 · Tàiyuán péndì

Producers known for it

Yunnan

Ao Yun

敖云

Flying above the clouds: China's most collectable wine

Shandong

Changyu

张裕

China's first modern winery, founded in 1892, and still its largest wine company

Xinjiang

Chateau Changyu Baron Balboa

张裕巴保男爵酒庄

Changyu's estate in Shihezi, at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang

Ningxia

Chateau Changyu Moser XV

张裕摩塞尔十五世酒庄

China's oldest wine company meets Austrian wine tradition in Ningxia

Ningxia

Chateau Hedong

贺东庄园

One of Ningxia’s oldest estates, with vines more than a century old

Shanxi

Chateau Rongzi

戎子酒庄

A Loess Plateau estate in southern Shanxi, advised by the former winemaker of Pétrus

Hebei

Chateau Sungod

长城桑干酒庄

Great Wall's historic estate in Huailai, where China's modern wine research began

Xinjiang

CITIC Niya

尼雅

One of the major producers of Xinjiang's Tianshan North Foothills

Ningxia

Copower Jade

A Yongning estate built from scratch in 2012, with an Uluru-inspired winery and award-winning Syrah

Shandong

Domaine de Long Dai

珑岱

Château Lafite's Chinese estate, on granite terraces by the sea

Hebei

Domaine Franco-Chinois

中法庄园

Born from a pact between two governments, the estate that brought Marselan to China

Shanxi

Grace Vineyard

怡园酒庄

China's pioneering family boutique winery, born in coal country

Hebei

Great Wall

长城

COFCO's historic wine brand, born at the foot of the Great Wall in 1983

Gansu

Guofeng

国风庄园

A large Hexi Corridor estate in Zhangye, on the old Silk Road

Ningxia

Helan Mountain

贺兰山

Pernod Ricard's Ningxia winery, one of the region's first international investments

Ningxia

Helan Qingxue

贺兰晴雪

The boutique estate whose 2011 trophy put Chinese wine on the world map

Shandong

Huadong Parry Winery

华东

The Qingdao winery founded by Englishman Michael Parry, a pioneer of Chinese Chardonnay and Riesling

Ningxia

Kanaan Winery

迦南美地

The "crazy" idea that became one of Ningxia's top estates

Ningxia

Lansai Winery

A family estate in Jin-style architecture, with one of Ningxia's top Cabernets

Ningxia

Legacy Peak

留世酒庄

The 1997 vineyard behind some of Ningxia's first famous wines

Ningxia

Longyu Estate

龙谕酒庄

Changyu's high-end Ningxia estate, among the Chinese wines best known abroad

Gansu

Mogao

莫高

Gansu's best-known winery, and China's champion of Pinot Noir

Yunnan

Shangri-La Winery

香格里拉酒业

The local wine company of north-west Yunnan, partner of Moët Hennessy in Ao Yun

Ningxia

Silver Heights

银色高地

The boutique estate that opened the door for fine Chinese wine

Xinjiang

Tiansai Vineyards

天塞酒庄

An organic oasis in the Gobi, named after a camera lens

Xinjiang

Xiangdu Winery

乡都酒业

The pioneer of the Yanqi Basin, the first to plant vines on its wasteland

Yunnan

Xiaoling Estate

霄岭

Cloud-kissed peaks: high-altitude wines in the footsteps of the French missionaries

Ningxia

Xige Estate

西鸽酒庄

One of China's largest and fastest-growing fine-wine estates, a champion of Cabernet Gernischt

Xinjiang

Zhongfei Winery

中菲酒庄

A vineyard won from the Gobi, stone by stone, in Xinjiang’s Yanqi Basin

Pairs with

Xinjiang

Cumin lamb skewers

羊肉串

Shanghai & Jiangsu

Red-braised pork belly

红烧肉

Italy

Lasagne and tagliatelle al ragù

Italy

Bistecca alla fiorentina

France

Steak frites

Britain

Sunday roast lamb

Food pairings

A natural match for Ningxia and Xinjiang lamb, from cumin skewers to roast leg. Riper, oaked examples also suit red-braised pork belly and other rich, slow-cooked meats.