Ao Yun's story is now well known among the wine affacionados - After four years of research across China to find the perfect terroir; 314 blocks of vines hand tended by 120 Tibetan farmer families; French wine maker - Maxene Dulou produces a spectacular wine with his Chinese technical team to reflect the mystisim of the sacred Meile Mountains from which Ao Yun was born.
First vintage commercially available was produced in 2013 with merely 24,000 bottles It was hyped as China’s first cult wine, retailing at over USD300 a bottle! However, the reviews have been almost unamiously positive and the wines sold out quickly.
With each subsequent release, its reputation grows, number of accolades from renowned critics continue to soar and so does the demand. Only one thing stays relatively constant - production. Interestingly, it is also more difficult to get hold of a bottle of AO YUN in China than other countries who were privileged to be given an allocation.
James Suckling summed it up very nicely with the release of the 2106 vintage in his recent article 'AO YUN 2016 - Another Peak for China' as follows:
"This year marks only the fourth vintage of this premium Chinese wine. As Dulou and his team are gaining more experience with their amazing terroir and the people who care for it, they have blazed a new trail in this distant, almost isolated Xanadu in which the conglomerate Moet Hennessy continues to invest heavily.
With the vines picking up some age in the future, we have every reason to believe that Ao Yun’s journey as a fine wine from China has just started. If you got a chance to taste the new vintage, you would probably agree that Ao Yun has lived up to the hype as a legendary Chinese wine, and it will continue to ride high in China."
An excellent collector's opportunity to pick up limited allocation of AO YUN Vertical Box Sets comprising 2 bottles each of vintage 2014, 2015 and the latest release - 2016