Exploring terroir at 200 KM per day: China’s ‘driving winemaker’

“Flying winemaker” sounds like a high-falutin’ job with trips to exotic destinations and saving-the-day — and vintage — heroics. But “driving winemaker”? Not so much.

But that’s the life of Deng Zhongxiang, a wine consultant in Ningxia who averages some 200 kilometers per day on that region’s lonely roads.

Last month, I wrote a Wine-Searcher profile of Deng, who studied at University of Burgundy and spent time at a trio of French wineries before settling in Ningxia in 2012, where he consults for seven wineries, including some that rank among China’s best.

And where makes wines unique to each operation’s soil, climate and owner demands, while working with grapes from Viognier and Vidal to Marselan and Malbec to Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. That includes orange wines and pet-nats, too. He’s a busy guy, one that one wine bar owner called “The Michel Rolland of China.” (If Rolland only sped about to his clients in a car. And sometimes on a bicycle. See below.)

A few quotes from the article:

• “Domaine Charme’s Marselan is often broodingly concentrated but structured due to the rocky soils in Jinshan [sub-region],” explains Shuai of jamessuckling.com. “This is different from, let’s say, Lansai’s Marselan, which is a lot more expressive and silkier. The same can be said for the Cabernets. Deng highlights the characteristics of the terroirs in different appellations.”
  
• At Mountain Wave, one of Deng’s newer clients, his first project was blending three grapes rarely planted together: Pinot Noir, Marselan and Malbec. The resulting ‘PMM’ turned out well and this year Deng is also making pet-nats for each of those three grapes. “We always had some idea of doing sparkling wines,” says owner Melvin Li. “Deng was deeply involved and gave really good suggestions about the quality and design of our tanks while building our winery.”
  
• With winter coming, Deng will again find himself alone on those roads, although it will be easier than during the past three years when “zero COVID” regulations forced him to shift at times from “driving winemaker” to “bicycling winemaker” or even “walking winemaker” to reach his clients. (“I had to do it,” he says. “There are so many wines for which I need to take responsibility. My job needs to get done.”)

Check out the full Wine Searcher story here, with quotes from Shuai Zekun of jamesuckling.com, Zhang Pai of Domaine Charme, Melvin Li of Mountain Wave, Yu Xiaojia of Lansai and Isabella Ko of wine bar / restaurant The Merchants.

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