2019 Chateau Changyu Moser XV Purple Air Comes From The East

“Purple Air Comes From The East” 2019 is the flagship red from Château Changyu Moser XV – a rare, estate-bottled Cabernet Sauvignon from Ningxia that has turned heads in the world’s most demanding blind tastings. With only 6,300 bottles produced and 24 months of barrique aging, it delivers a Bordelais sense of freshness and finesse, but with a distinctly Chinese identity. Praised by Jancis Robinson and ranking just behind Lafite Rothschild in a Financial Times blind tasting, this is one of the wines that is redefining what Chinese fine wine can be.

Tasting Notes
In the glass, the 2019 Purple Air Comes From The East shows a deep, vivid ruby to garnet core with a brilliant, almost glossy sheen, hinting at both concentration and precision. The nose opens with lifted floral tones – violet and rose petal – before unfolding into layers of red and dark berries (cassis, black cherry, wild raspberry), laced with cedar shavings, fine tobacco, pencil shavings and a warm touch of vanilla from carefully judged oak. On the palate, the wine is plush yet poised: ripe Cabernet fruit wrapped in a refined, cool-climate structure. Juicy blackcurrant and blackberry are framed by a lively acidity (around 5.4 g/L) that brings a very Bordelais "la fraîcheur" to the style. The tannins are fine-grained and silky but persistent, giving shape without heaviness, while subtle notes of spice, cigar box and cocoa linger through a long, harmonious finish. The balance of intensity and elegance suggests excellent aging potential; this vintage should evolve beautifully over 10–15 years from harvest, gaining further complexity in tertiary notes of leather, truffle and dried flowers.

Production
Château Changyu Moser XV is based in Ningxia, a high-altitude region on the eastern edge of the Helan Mountains, where a dry continental climate, intense sunlight and large diurnal temperature swings create ideal conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon with both ripeness and freshness. The vineyards sit on well-drained, gravelly and sandy soils that naturally limit yields and concentrate flavor. Grapes for Purple Air Comes From The East are meticulously selected and harvested by hand, with Lenz M. Moser – the estate’s chief winemaker – present throughout the entire harvest to oversee each detail. After careful sorting, the wine is vinified in a Bordeaux-inspired style to preserve purity of fruit and structural elegance, followed by 24 months of maturation in barriques in the château’s underground cellars, using a combination of new French oak and second- and third-fill barrels to achieve complex aromatics without overpowering the fruit. The wine is estate bottled (mise en bouteille au château), underscoring its château-grown, château-made pedigree.

Food & Serving
This refined, Cabernet-based Ningxia red is a natural partner for classic, richly flavored dishes: think dry-aged ribeye or entrecôte with herb butter, slow-braised lamb shanks, Peking duck, or roasted venison with root vegetables. It also pairs beautifully with dishes featuring mushrooms, truffles, or subtle smokiness – such as grilled aubergine, mushroom ragù, or hard cheeses like Comté and aged Gouda. Serve at 16–18°C to highlight its freshness and aromatic complexity. Decanting is recommended: give the wine 1–2 hours in a carafe if opened in its youth to soften the tannins and allow the floral and cedar-spice notes to fully unfurl; older bottles may need only a gentle splash-decant to remove sediment.

Producer
Château Changyu Moser XV is the result of a high-profile partnership between Changyu – China’s oldest and largest wine producer, founded in 1892 by visionary diplomat Zhang Bishi in Yantai – and Austrian winemaker Lenz M. Moser, a fifth-generation member of the renowned Moser wine family. Changyu pioneered modern Chinese viticulture, originally importing over 500,000 vines from Europe and the US with the guidance of August Wilhelm Baron von Babo, and has since grown into a national powerhouse with multiple estates across China and an international shareholder base that includes Italy’s ILLVA and the IFC. In 2015, Lenz Moser, whose family revolutionized European vineyard training with the “Lenz Moser Hocherziehung” system and who previously held senior roles at Lenz Moser Winery, Robert Mondavi Europe and LAURENZ V., joined forces with Changyu to create Château Changyu Moser XV with one clear ambition: to craft world-class, benchmark wines from China. Today, the estate is recognized as one of China’s leading fine-wine producers, with Purple Air Comes From The East standing as a flagship cuvée that competes credibly with the most illustrious names in Bordeaux and Napa in top-level blind tastings.

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