A pioneer of the Yili Valley
Yizhu Winery was founded in 1964 by a regiment of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the state organisation that farms large parts of Xinjiang, and began growing wine grapes in the Yili Valley. It is one of the oldest wineries in the region, created only five years after the Corps built the first winery in Turpan.
The valley
The Yili Valley, in north-west Xinjiang near the Kazakhstan border, is the region's most humid wine area, with about 400 mm of rain a year, and is known for the diversity of its grapes. Decanter lists Yizhu among the producers to know in the valley, alongside Silk Road Winery and Chateau Crescent.
Why it matters
Yizhu belongs to the first generation of Chinese wineries and to the history of how wine returned to Xinjiang in the second half of the 20th century.