ZAXEE Chardonnay Reserve Dry White Wine 2025

Nature's unguarded confession.

Region: Yunnan, China | Grape: 100% Chardonnay | Vintage: 2025 | Style: Dry White (unoaked) | ABV: 12.5% | Volume: 750ml

Terroir
Ruiwa Village, Deqin, Yunnan, at the foot of Meili Snow Mountain, elevation 2,750m. A hamlet of just 15 households with intense sunshine and UV, a 160-day frost-free period, large diurnal but small annual temperature swings, winter lows no colder than -12°C, average rainfall of 380-450mm, and an average annual temperature of 12°C. Poor, thin soils (leached alpine soil mixed with gravel, pebbles and sandstone), irrigated with snowmelt, entirely hand-farmed.

Winemaking
Harvested September 27 - October 13. Destemmed and crushed for free-run juice only, cold natural settling, then a slow, cool fermentation of around one month. Aged on lees in stainless steel for 140 days, naturally cold-stabilised over winter, then bottled.

High Cru Tasting Notes
True to its name, this is a purely unoaked expression — terroir shown bare-faced, fresh, bright and direct. Passion fruit, apple, pineapple and citrus mingle with bready, fermentation-driven mineral notes; savoury, with medium acidity and an easy, refreshing drink. On opening it shows a fully natural-wine character, funky, with a pickled-bamboo-shoot edge. Savoury on the palate with acidity that's lively rather than sharp — genuinely refreshing. Pale golden in colour, with aromas of acacia flower, yellow apple, peach and honeydew alongside a hint of cream — open and expressive. Medium acidity on entry, a saline character, a touch of sweetness on the close, spicy white-flower notes intertwined with tropical fruit, lovely concentration, and a spicy, faintly bitter finish.