The wines of Xige Estate from Ningxia

Established in 2017, Xige Estate is one of the most exciting new wine projects in China.  Xige Estate is a new and modern winery with over 1300 hectares of vineyards where over 1000 of them feature 20-year-old mature vines. This underpins their fast-tracked success to become one of the leading fine wine candidates among Chinese counterparts. Xige was founded by the ex-winemaker at Changyu Winery Zhang Yan Zhi. Joining him is Burgundy-born Christelle Chene, whom had worked in China for an extensive period of time as an export sales director; before committing herself fully to the promotion of Ningxia Wines, or in general Chinese wines, to the world.

The wines of Xige Estate caught international attention when President Xi Jin Ping chose Xige Cabernet Cabernet and Gernischt blend when he met with President Emmanuel Macron of France during Macron's recent April trip to China. Even before then, Xige has claimed a spot on international wine scene when the winery exported  batch worth of 124,000 pounds worth of wines to United Kingdom. This quantity broke the record for highest export value of a single batch of wine from Ningxia.

Here's a snapshot of Xige Estate:

1. Founded by ex-Changyu winemaker Zhang Yanzhi in 2017
   
2. Current chief winemaker Liao Zu song was formerly part of Shanxi's Grace Vineyard team. He has also worked at Bass Philip and Mollydooker in Australia.
   
3. Xige owns Ningxia's largest plots of older vines (20 years old), totalling 1000 hectares. 
   
4. Global brand ambassador Christelle Chene was born in France and had been working in China's wine scene for 10 years or more. She has been instrumental towards increasing export value of Xige Estate by 550% in 2021/22. 
   
5. Xige Cabernet Sauvignon-Gernischt blend has been chosen by President Xi Jin Ping to drink with President Emmanuel Macron during the latter's recent visit to China in April 2023.