The search
Moët Hennessy spent four years searching China for a place to make a world-class red wine. It found it in the Himalayan foothills of Yunnan, near Shangri-La, on the banks of the Mekong. The site was so remote that roads had to be built to reach it.
The vineyards
More than 300 tiny plots, totalling around 28 hectares, lie between 2,200 and 2,600 metres, at the foot of the Meili Snow Mountain. The slopes are too steep for machines: everything is done by hand.
The wine
Ao Yun makes a single red, based on Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc and other Bordeaux grapes. The first vintage, 2013, was released in 2016. In 2022 the 2018 vintage became the first Chinese wine released through the Bordeaux négociant system, like the great châteaux.