Silver Heights Chardonnay Reserve 2021

100% Chardonnay made in a Burgundy style and selected for a state banquet in 2016. Grapes are hand picked before going through gentle, slow pressing and temperature controlled fermentation with careful oxygen protection. Aged in 100% new Burgundy oak barrels for 8 months before bottling. Filtered in the traditional Bordeaux method. 

Very well integrated oak that does not present like a 100% new oak Chardonnay. Underripe tropical fruits, starfruit, longan, jackfruit. An earthy nuttiness, cashew, marzipan complexity balances the very rich, creamy mid palate.  

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Silver Heights is a family-owned winery in Ningxia, founded in 2007 by Emma Gao and her father, committed to making artisanal wines that demonstrate craftsmanship, integrity and passion. All wines use indigenous yeasts, minimal filtration, and minimal sulphites.

After completing a National Diploma in Oenology in 2002, and completing several vintages across Bordeaux, including two years at Calon Segur, Emma Gao returned to Ningxia to develop her family’s new vineyard into a world class estate.

Emma Gao proved her worth quickly - achieving the highest score from a Chinese winery in Jancis Robinson’s 2010 review. A few years later, Silver Heights was featured in the “World Atlas of Wine” as the highest quality representation of the Eastern Helan Foothills appellation. 

In 2015, Silver Heights were finally able to make their wines from 100% estate fruit, which they began to farm biodynamically and organically in 2018 using western philosophies and the Chinese principles of Jieqi. In 2023, the family achieved Demeter certification - the first Chinese winery to do so.