Yunnan
云南
High above the clouds, Yunnan’s mountainous mystique has enchanted winemakers looking to harness the rare, unforgiving, high-altitude terroir, despite tiny yields.
Regarded as a “the land of eternal spring”, Yunnan is known for its pu’er tea, wild mushrooms, heirloom rice varieties, and specialty produce. The critically acclaimed wine industry, often reflected by the high price tags, have brought prestige to this unique climate with scenic appeal.
The region is steep - with no steadying valley floor. Instead, vineyards are scattered amongst tiny pockets of flat land hugging the sides of lofty mountains.
Climate: Moderate dry monsoon
Temperature: Average of -6°C in winter, 20°C in summer
Altitude: 2,200-3,200m
Rainfall: 600mm p/a (moderate)
Sunlight: 2,800 hours p/a
Soil: Sandy-Loam, Gravel
Key Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay
Notable Viticultural Practices: Some controlled irrigation
Geography
Straddling the Three Parallel Rivers, a 300-kilometre long UNESCO World Heritage Site, Yunnan’s vineyards are along either the Jinsha River (金沙江), leading to the Yangtze, the Lancang River (澜沧江) leading to the Mekong in Vietnam, or the Nu River (怒江) leading to the Salween in Myanmar.
Well below 30°N latitude, this region is made suitable for winemaking due to its high altitude. Over 20 of the surrounding mountains exceed 5,000 meters in elevation, including the Meili Mountains (སྨིན་གླིང་གངས་རི) - blocking the warm, moist monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean. Rainfall is limited to the growing season, ensuring a dry harvest period.
Key subregions (north to south) include:
Shangri-La (Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture)
སེམས་ཀྱི་ཉི་ཟླ་གྲོང་ཁྱེར།, བདེ་ཆེན་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་
Lijiang Prefecture
丽江市
Dali Bai Prefecture
大理州
Size
As of 2025, Yunnan has approximately 50 wineries across 800 hectares of area under vine.
Due to most vineyards being managed at a village level, Yunnan has a strong négociant culture. Large wine companies or independent winemakers partner with local growers.
Styles
Wines from Yunnan typically consist of single-varietal Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon. Wines are lean and elegant, rather than powerful, with a fresh acidity and ripeness resulting in lower alcohol due to the sunlight intensity.
Some small plantings of other varieties exist, including Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Rose Honey, a Vitis Vinifera x Vitis Labrusca variety lost in Europe after the phylloxera epidemic.
Tinnyu ‘Coma’ Chardonnay 2024
100% Chardonnay aged in 70% stainless steel, 30% French 225L oak (50% new, 50% one year old) for 8 months.
Ao Yun 2019
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 7% Syrah, 4% Petit Verdot aged in 35% new French oak for 14 months.
Zaxee 2560 Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 30% new French oak for 14 months.
Notable Wineries:
Imported:
Tinnyu 田与酒造
Xiao Pu 小圃
Notable Producers:
Ao Yun
Domaine Muxin
Xiao Ling
Zaxee
Château Roduit
Célèbre
Mingyi