The 2019 Purple Air Comes From The East is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and has a deep garnet appearance, with a distinct orange rim already in evidence. On the nose, there is a reasonable core of relatively ripe cassis, bramble, black cherry and mulberry fruit, with leafy herbaceous notes of grass and green bell pepper. However, these primary notes are overlaid with very woody oak, showing distinctly overt toast, clove, smoke and some vanilla. On the palate, it is full-bodied and has coating tannins, but there’s also some tougher wood tannin with supporting acidity but also some 15% alcohol, which needs better integration, given the ambition of this wine, i.e. where it is aiming at as an example of super-premium Chinese Cabernet. The overuse of new wood is a pity, as there is a perceptible core of ripe, varietally true Cabernet Sauvignon fruit underlying the whole. If you consider the auspicious conditions in Ningxia in 2019 to produce top-quality Cabernet and also place this wine alongside the very best examples of Cabernet-based blends from Yunnan and elsewhere in China, then Purple Air Comes From The East is going to need some changes in terms of winemaking if it is to shine. I hope that less use of new oak and a perhaps shorter maturation time will help. Some tertiary development might assist this vintage, but it is unlikely to be able to compensate for the very woody character and drying finish. With its moderate length, my sense is that this wine should be drunk up, but it is a better example than the 2016 vintage.
- Edward Ragg (01/2024)
