Building Better Bottles: Chinese Winemakers Recalibrate for Quality

Chinese wine has made impressive strides in quality and stylistic diversity over the past year, but progress has come against a backdrop of mounting pressure. An economic slowdown, declining wine consumption and government crackdowns on alcohol and lavish official entertaining have weighed heavily on producers. Mother Nature has added to the strain, with adverse weather conditions – particularly in Shandong and a rare, rainy 2024 in Ningxia, the country’s most productive wine region – compounding difficulties.

One of China’s leading wineries, Grace Vineyard, which farms vineyards in Shanxi and Ningxia, has felt the effects, and they have reduced production after several years of slowing sales. But with the output cut has come a renewed interest in crafting a better product. “The silver lining this year is that without the pressure of volume, it’s easier to focus on quality,” said Grace Vineyard’s chief winemaker, Lee Yean Yean.

The estate continued to produce outstanding wines from a slightly cooler 2023 vintage, which saw higher yields from a later-than-usual harvest. Grace Vineyard's signature cross-region blend, the Grace Vineyard China Deep Blue 怡园深蓝葡萄酒 2023, was among the best wines we tasted from them, marrying the freshness of the cool, rainy Taigu plateau in Shanxi with the richness and density typically found in wines made in Ningxia's Qingtongxia subregion.

Encouraging news also emerged from the export market, whose value increased 75 percent to $58.1 million in the November 2024 to October 2025 period compared with the same period in 2024, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs. Hong Kong is increasingly acting as a springboard for China’s wine exports, particularly from Ningxia – China’s most acclaimed and productive wine region, which has seen significant growth in overseas shipments over the past three years.

“Better quality and better brand awareness are equally important reasons behind this increase,” said Deng Zhongxiang, the consulting winemaker for multiple Ningxia wineries, including Domaine Charme, and founder of his own project, Beyond Time.

Deng cautioned, however, that many Chinese wines remain overpriced and disconnected from market realities. Shifting consumer behavior and reduced disposable income continue to dampen domestic sales. “Some producers focus too much on creating expensive, ultra-premium wines for accolades and medals rather than really selling them,” he said.

As production has expanded, oversupply of certain grapes has led to sharply falling prices in 2025. Several Ningxia winemakers reported marselan prices dropping to as low as $0.40 per kilo, with little buying interest. Zheng Xing, a co-founder of Myst Vineyard in Ningxia, noted that even government mandates to purchase grapes have done little to alleviate the situation. “For many, the tanks are still full with unsold vintages,” he said.

Now widely regarded by industry insiders as China’s signature grape, marselan has been the first to feel market pressure. Yet it also represents a quiet success story, showing improved quality and drinkability as well as more accessible pricing – factors that help counter broader challenges facing the industry.

“I believe affordable marselans will be a good introduction for new consumers and the grape is easy to like thanks to its deeper color, floral character and rounder tannins,” said Wu Xiu Yong, the winemaker at Dong Fang Yu Xing, who crafted the best-value marselan we tasted this year from Ningxia, the Dong Fang Yu Xing Marselan Ningxia Ge Rui Hong 东方裕兴酒庄戈蕊红马瑟兰干红 2024. This youthful, easy-drinking wine is made from both purchased grapes and young estate vines and was aged for just around three months in older French barrels.

The 2024 Ningxia vintage, marked by relentless rain from late August through harvest, proved challenging and unpredictable, yet it also left behind a footprint of freshness. Rigorous selection (due to rot) resulted in lighter styles with crunchier fruit, lower alcohol and higher acidity. The Xu Yu Jin Shan Marselan Ningxia Ye Ke 旭域金山野客马瑟兰自然酒 2024 is a great example, fermented with natural yeast and illustrating the vintage’s vibrancy, encouraging producers to dial back intervention and aim for purity.

For Lee Yean Yean, 2024 became a year of learning from Ningxia’s semi-desert continental climate, which is now showing greater unpredictability. “Luckily, our experience in Shanxi helps, as it is much rainier there during summer. In Ningxia, we only sprayed four times in 2024, and we didn’t have much botrytis, and in Shanxi, it is normal to have at least 10 sprays,” he said.

In Shandong’s coastal Penglai region, producers face a different set of challenges. Winemaking costs continue to rise due to climatic pressures and limited grape supply, prompting independent winemakers such as Jiang Yu to source fruit from other regions, including Shangri-la in Yunnan. Yu Qing Xiao, the winemaker at the Runaway Cow Winery, explained that excessive rainfall has made operations increasingly expensive, contributing to higher wine prices in Penglai.

“Normally, we have rainfall of around 700 to 800 millimeters [27.5 to 31.5 inches] per year,” Yu said during my visit to Runaway Cow, which is directly opposite DBR Lafite’s Penglai project, Long Dai. “In 2024, we had 1,500 millimeters, and 2022 we had around 1200 millimeters. In fact, the last three years have been very difficult for us.”

The Long Dai Qiushan 瓏岱丘山 2022 took on a Loire-inspired character in the difficult vintage, according to Saskia de Rothschild, chairwoman of the DBR Lafite group. The wine includes the highest proportions yet of cabernet franc (41 percent) and marselan (34 percent), with less cabernet sauvignon due to storms brought by Typhoon Muifa in mid-September of that year.

While Long Dai’s technical team sees strong potential for cabernet franc on Penglai’s granitic soils under a semi-tropical monsoon climate, other estates, such as Runaway Cow and Chateau Anuo, are also experimenting with lesser-known varieties to combat rot and fungal disease. From a tasting perspective, the region’s potential for producing fresh, elegant whites and refined reds in drier vintages is clear, with varietal chardonnays, petit manseng, cabernet franc and petit verdot showing particularly well.

In Huailai, Hebei province – just 80 kilometers from Beijing – the lack of winemaking vitality still outweighs other challenges. Only a handful of producers are working to elevate this underappreciated region, which has demonstrated potential in warmer, drier years such as 2014, 2017 and 2019. The 2022 vintage may join that list, as illustrated by Canaan Winery’s Chapter and Verse Syrah Huailai Mastery 诗百篇特选西拉 2022, the most complete syrah we tasted this year, combining finesse and freshness from a cooler season with the depth and structure of a solar vintage.

In stark contrast, the high-altitude vineyards around Shangri-la and Deqin in Yunnan have emerged as dynamic centers of Chinese winemaking. Alongside established names such as Ao Yun and Xiao Ling, independent projects including Muxin, Mingyi and Clos Mao are producing chardonnays celebrated for brightness, purity and altitude-driven intensity. These wines are increasingly compared favorably with top examples from around the world.

The Mingyi Yunnan Above the Creek 酩一桃溪之上干白葡萄酒 2022, crafted by winemaker Feng Jian, stands out as the most thrilling discovery from China this year. Sourced from a small, densely planted parcel in the village of Jiangpo, it is an awe-inspiring chardonnay that balances electric brightness with concentration, finishing with a salty, mouthwatering edge.

Limited production of these wines – around 1,000 bottles of each – has bolstered their cult status, intensifying competition for fruit and vineyards. Luo Yuchen, who honed his craft at Ao Yun before launching his own project in Yunnan, has already made impressive, pristinely styled wines at more accessible prices. The Farmentation Syrah Shangri-La Medo 田园酿造梅朵西拉干红 2021, which featured in the Top 100 Wines of China 2025 report, is an honest, stripped-down expression that highlights the freshness and purity of Shangri-la fruit.

With its varied altitudes, exposures, intense UV light, wide diurnal temperature swings and long growing season, Yunnan offers exceptional viticultural advantages, along with the practical benefit of avoiding winter vine burial. “The challenge here is more about the distance and the hardship for people to really settle down in a remote, high-altitude area and work closely with the local people in the vineyards,” said Luo, who previously worked at Ao Yun, the LVMH-backed bellwether estate.

Ao Yun continues to lead China’s premium wine segment, with its 2021 vintage still priced above $300 per bottle. Yet alongside this top tier, a growing movement of more affordable Yunnan wines is gaining traction and attracting new consumers.

Ultimately, the challenges facing China’s wine industry reflect broader socioeconomic shifts. As conversations continue about economic malaise and declining wine consumption among younger generations, there is still plenty of room for optimism. Integrating wine into everyday life – not just fine dining or specialist venues – will be critical. Broadening wine’s appeal beyond elite or highly educated palates may determine how successfully Chinese wine writes its next chapter.

– Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.