Changyu in the far west
Chateau Changyu Baron Balboa opened on 12 August 2013 in Shihezi, in the Manas River basin at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains. It was Changyu's fourth château and was built to be the company's production base in western China. It includes a large underground cellar, production facilities, a wine museum and 37 hectares of vines around the building.
A tribute to the first winemaker
The estate is named after Baron von Babo, the Austrian winemaker who worked for Changyu in its early years in Yantai, when the company was founded in 1892. The château itself is built in a French classical style, in the 'château movement' that shaped many Chinese estates of the 2010s.
Rooted in the northern foothills
Shihezi lies in the Tianshan North Foothills, the largest wine-growing area of Xinjiang, at about 44° north. Changyu works here with the Eighth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which grows grapes for the company, and buys most of the wine grapes produced around Shihezi.
Why it matters
Baron Balboa is the clearest sign of Changyu's long commitment to Xinjiang, and one of the easiest places to discover the wines of China's far west.