Awards, Ratings & Reviews
93/100 ā James Suckling Ā· 2023 Vintage Ā· Tasted: Oct 2025
āA floral and peppery nose of violets and fresh blue and purple fruit. Spicy, with a medium to full body and fine-grained tannins. Spot-on balance with good length. Drink or hold.ā
About This Wine
Silver Heights Jiayuan Marselan 2023 is produced from 100% Marselan.
The grapes are hand picked and fermented using only wild yeasts in neutral barrels.
The wine is aged in 100% new French oak for 12 months before bottling and filtered using the traditional Bordeaux method.
Producer Notes
Smokey and savoury - lap cheong, cured meat, cumin, star anise and white pepper.
A shiso leaf / spring onion freshness balanced by toasty oak.
Medium bodied with firm tannins.
About the Producer
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 familyās new vineyard into a world class estate.
Emma Gao proved her worth quickly - achieving the highest score from a Chinese winery in Jancis Robinsonās 2010 review. A few years later, Silver Heights was featured in the āWorld Atlas of Wineā 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.
Specifications
- Vintage: 2023
- Grape Variety: 100% Marselan
- Region: Ningxia / People's Republic of China
- Fermentation: Fermented using wild yeasts in neutral barrels
- Maturation: 12 months in 100% new French oak
- Production Attributes: Biodynamic, Organic, Hand Picked, Wild Yeast
- Alcohol: 13%
- Closure: Cork
- Sweetness: Dry
