September Helan
九月兰山
September Helan’s story is almost a Chinese cliché: a vineyard established by a family’s parents that fell into their childrens’ hands, ready for a new vision and reinterpretation. A vineyard reclaimed and rezoned by local government, uplifting the family’s entire life. A winemaker who has slowly drifted away from the dominant, perptual style in China and towards fresh, mineral-driven, expressions.
Throughout September Helan’s history, with all its difficult or challenging events, Gigi Gao has remained resilient and dedicated to making high quality wines in Ningxia.
The ‘Home Grown’ range has become a proving ground wines focussing on fruit purity, terroir, and freshness, demonstrating that sessionable, light reds, and macerated whites do have a future in the region.
Winemaker: Yujie (Gigi) Gao
Established: 2015
Location: Eastern Foothills of Helan Mountain
Farming Method: Sustainable
Vineyard Size: 50,000 bottles per annum, 33 acres (pre-2025), Négociant (post-2025)
Vineyard: 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 15% Syrah, 15% Chardonnay, 10% Marselan, 5% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Gernischt
Gigi Gao during a visit from Simon J Wolfe
Gigi Gao’s path into winemaking was a common Chinese tale: a vineyard established by her parents that fell into her hands, ready for a new vision and reinterpretation.
The small winery was a retirement project of Gigi’s parents, who had a long passion for wine. But it was only 5 years before Gigi transitioned out of the first year of her architecture career, and took the reigns on the family vineyard.
Since then, Gigi has devoted her life to learning about winemaking - she remains curious and is currently completing a PhD in oenology, whilst her sister leads marketing and sales.
Nowadays, Gigi looks for wines that possess vibrancy and vitality. The ‘Home Grown’ label has become the proving ground for a style of winemaking not often found in Ningxia: focussing on fruit purity, terroir, and freshness. Across all cuvées Gigi intends to remain curious and give the wines a sense of character and true Chinese terroir.
Like many countries across Asia, land in China is state-owned. Local governments act as custodians and lease plots to residents on extended terms.
In 2025, the local government reclaimed September Helan’s 33 acre vineyard and rezoned the area for an airport, converting September Helan from an estate to a négociant.
Whilst Gigi intends to establish another vineyard in the future, the reclaimed winery has provided an opportunity for her and the family to think about the future of the region. The vineyard’s location, size, farming practices, clonal material, and possible varieties can now be considered and decided before the winery established.
Vineyards
September Helan - 33ha
Gravel, stony soils, 1200m altitude
Wines
Chardonnay
100% Chardonnay from Gezi Mountain, pressed and fermented at 16° over 7 days. 50% of the wine was transferred to new 225L French oak for 6 months to undergo MLF, whilst the other 50% is rested in neutral oak.
‘Home Grown’ Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc
100% Chardonnay from Gezi Mountain, fermented on Sauvignon Blanc skins for 3 weeks. Rested in tank sur lie for 6 months
‘Home Grown’ Marselan
100% Marselan from Gezi Mountain, cold macerated for 5 days and fermented at 20° over 10 days. Racked and rested in stainless steel for 6 months before bottling.