THE ESTATES & WINES DIVISION OF MOËT HENNESSY IS READY TO TEST THE MARKET WITH ITS FIRST RED WINE PRODUCED IN CHINA. IT WILL BE ON SALE STARTING IN OCTOBER, AND IS CALLED, "AO YUN", PRODUCED FROM CABERNET SAUVIGNON GRAPES GROWN ON THE HIMALAYAS

The Estates & Wines division of Moët Hennessy (LVMH group), which for some years, has added the new star of world viticulture, China, to its companies in Australia, New Zealand, California, Argentina and Spain, is ready to test the market, and will launch, in grand style, the first red wine produced in China, already bottled, scheduled for autumn. It will be called "Ao Yun", which means "sacred cloud", referring to the sacred Mount Meili, which surrounds the vineyards on the heights of the Himalayas, in the northern Chinese province of Yunnan, near the border with Tibet.

The wine will be produced from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown at altitudes between 2.200 and 2.600 meters above sea level. There is still no firm date for the launch, but it all likelihood it will be in October 2015 in Europe and the US, and in January 2016 in China.

“We spent four years”, the President of Estates & Wines Jean-Guillaume Prats told the UK magazine "Decanter", “searching for the right area to produce a quality wine in China. There are many logistic production challenges to overcome in this mountainous region, but a particularly long maturation and dry, sunny autumns give beautiful grapes with thick skins, small but compact berries and concentrations of sugars and freshness”.