Six to Try: Chinese Wines Showing Up In Australian Restaurants

China is starting to make its mark on the global wine stage, carving out a reputation for both quality and creativity. And yet, despite a winemaking history that stretches back millennia, it’s only in the last few decades that a broader, more dynamic wine industry has begun to emerge.

While China has long been associated with classic winemaking – bold red wines in particular – a quiet revolution is being led by younger generation of boutique winemakers who are leaning into more avant-garde styles. An uptick in light, fresh reds, orange wines, minerally white wines, exotic blends and pet nats is shifting the conversation around the possibilities of Chinese viticulture.

Part of the vanguard is sommelier and drinks educator turned winemaker Ian Dai and his Xiao Pu (“Little Garden”) winery situated in Ningxia, a dry and arid region in the country’s central north with clearly defined seasons and a soil combination of sand and loam. Dai’s experience has seen him learn winemaking in France, Australia and further afield, before homing in on China’s diverse terroir. While he mainly produces wines in a fine-wine paradigm, he also lets loose with expressive, wilder-edged bottles rooted in minimal intervention.

Sourcing grapes from Ningxia, Yunnan and other parts of the country, Dai’s “nomadic” approach involves wild fermentation, no additives and gentle handling to eke out purity and character. His focus on organic farming and sustainable practices speaks to a larger shift in China towards more health-conscious, eco-aware consumption. With this, Dai and other producers, including Silver Heights (also from Ningxia) and Puchang Vineyard (Xinjiang), are opening a new chapter in China’s wine evolution, unlocking some of the untapped potential in the country’s diverse regions and grape varieties.

Top Australian restaurants and bars are taking notice: in Melbourne, you’ll find Xiao Pu at Old Palm Liquor, Sleepy’s Wine Bar, Cardwell Cellars and more. Up in Brisbane, east Asian restaurant Southside is taking them for a spin. These personality-packed wines are worth seeking out.

There’s nothing common about Xiao Pu’s common rosé; a blend of two unusual grape varieties, welschriesling and muscat de Hamburg. The former is left on skins while the latter is ‘bled’ like a saignée. What ends up in the glass is super floral, almost like sniffing fresh cut flowers mixed with potpourri, and flavours are reminiscent of tropical fruit punch with maraschino cherry blended in. This is a very exotic rosé wine with hazy pink colour in the glass, wild scents and distinct personality – you’d be hard pressed comparing it something else. It’s a wine that’s ideally drunk cold from thick rimmed glasses at yum cha.

The autonomous region of Ningxia is a prolific place for winegrowing in China, but Dai is focused on smaller scale and higher quality for his fruit sources. The wine is produced as a lighter, vibrant red-wine style from the aforementioned muscat de Hamburg, a commonly grown but relatively unsung variety for a table red. This aromatic wine sits cloudy and garnet-coloured in the glass and offers bold notes of ripe cherry, exotic spice, the scent of a Chinese herbal medicine shop and dashes of turned earth. The flavour spectrum wraps all of that up and shows off squishy texture with a spicy, herbal finish. Think frisky, floral pinot noir as an equivalent. Chill this one for sure.

With Xiao Pu wines, there’s often a twist. Here, it’s a conventional blend of 60 percent merlot, 20 percent syrah with the added X-factor of 20 percent dunkelfelder – an unusual heritage variety from Germany. This is quite a savoury red with elements of sweet, earthy spice, game meat, blueberry and dark plum fruit characters (plus, some notes of powdered chocolate milk). It sits outside the box of what many will recognise as red wine characteristics. But there’s an undeniable sense of fun and excitement in the glass. This wine is reminiscent of a classic, soft merlot, but with a lot of quirkiness and a feeling of exploration.

A pinot noir made from multiple years of harvest, blended together, which is original for a start. Ningxia’s Qingtong Valley – one of the fastest growing wine regions in China – is a place of sandy soils where the wind from the Gobi Desert whips over the vines. The resulting red sits somewhat outside expectations of classic pinot noir, with sour cherry, hyper-floral notes, game meat and sweet earthiness all found in the bouquet and palate. It’s quite sloshy in texture (and really appealing in that way) and almost stains the mouth with sweet and meaty characters with each sip. A light chill is nice here, too.

Xiao Pu wines tend to feature a less familiar grape, and here we have marselan – a hybrid variety of cabernet sauvignon crossed with grenache. Also included in this bordeaux-inspired “super blend” are juices from all of the winery’s fermentation vessels in 2021, including chardonnay and pinot noir. The results are plush and supple, with a suede feel to the texture. Lots of perfume here too – chock full of ripe plum, with truffle, dried autumn leaves and bergamot tea in the mix. Flavours settle in with plum and truffle, a touch of oyster sauce and more of that bergamot tea earthiness and leafiness. All up: out of the box. But you might like this if you’re into wilder-edged natural red wines that are light and chuggable.

An orange wine from China? Yes, they do exist. This successful version combines chardonnay, petit manseng, gewürztraminer and viognier grape varieties fermented with indigenous yeasts; with skins left on to enhance texture and flavour. It’s plump and slightly chewy with scents and flavours of lychee, green mango, apricot and jasmine tea. There’s a dusting of almost mustard powder savouriness in the mix, too. Truly, there’s a kaleidoscope of things going on here and, indeed, this should be a real talking point for those who fancy orange wine. Delicious, vibrant and fun, like a party in the glass. Sichuan cuisine alongside would be apt.

Keen to try Xiao Pu wines? Its Australian importer Periphery Wine is hosting a series of tasting events in Melbourne next month. There’s one at Lagoon Dining on April 2, followed by Potluck Dining on April 3, Cardwell Cellars on April 4 (no booking required) and Sleepy’s Cafe and Wine Bar on April 5.