Meldung vom 11.12.2025
Chateau Changyu Moser XV: Reflections at Year’s End – from the Starting Point in 2015 and the Breakthrough in 2018 to a Look Ahead to 2026
VIENNA, December 2025. In the life story of a wine estate, there are those rare moments when one stops “hoping” and simply knows. Not because the market applauds or medals glitter—but because suddenly everything aligns: origin, style, people, timing. At Chateau Changyu Moser XV in Ningxia, this journey can be told through two key years: 2015 as the starting signal, and 2018 as the moment of certainty. Between them lies the emergence of a region whose potential had long been discussed but seldom tasted—and the signature of a winemaker who has shaped this path from the very beginning: Lenz Maria Moser, responsible for the estate’s style in Ningxia since 2015.
2015: A Vintage as a Door-Opener
Ningxia was exceptionally strong in 2015. Anyone on the ground at the time sensed that something important was happening. It was also the year Lenz Maria Moser began his work as winemaker on site. Looking back, the team describes this starting point as a turning moment. Moser recalls:
“2015 was a great vintage—we had something like beginner’s luck.”
But luck alone doesn’t create a style. What mattered was a rare combination of people and place that steered Moser from the outset toward precision and a distinctive regional voice:
- a strong local team capable of reading and guiding the vintage,
- Professor Dr. Jin Gang of Yinchuan University, then serving as translator and playing a decisive role in winemaking support,
- around ten immediate competitors in Ningxia producing excellent wines at the same time—most of them led by women.
The environment was not only motivating, but demanding. And that pressure elevated the quality.
How young the region still was as a serious wine origin can be illustrated by a simple picture: in the summer of 2015, roughly 35 wineries were visited—yet before 2015, a truly enjoyable bottle from Ningxia was still the exception.
In other words: the 2015 vintage was not “just good”—it was the tipping point.
The Style: Not Polishing Ningxia, but Revealing It
From the beginning, the objective was not to create international imitations but authenticity—an ambition Moser has pursued consistently since 2015. Ningxia’s desert climate shapes an extreme grape physiology: the smallest Cabernet Sauvignon berries in the world.
At the Chateau, these tiny berries were guided to full ripeness and expression—forming the raw material for a wine style that needs no explanation because it speaks for itself.
From this philosophy emerged a structure that was new to Ningxia: a clear brand architecture translating the style into three distinct interpretations.
Three Lines, Three Signatures – An Overview
Helan Mountain Range – Purism & Precision
- Cabernet Sauvignon (Red)
- Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc de Noir
- Innovation: the world’s first White Cabernet
- Aging: exclusively in stainless steel
Moser Family – Depth & Time
- Cabernet Sauvignon (Red)
- Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc de Noir
- Aging: two years in barrique
Grand Vins – Concentration & Icon
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- “Purple Air Comes from the East” – the estate’s later icon, already taking shape in 2018
Thus Ningxia was not pressed into a predefined mold but translated into its own language—guided by the stylistic vision Moser has shaped on-site since 2015.
2018: Fuzhou and the Sentence That Changed Everything
Autumn 2018 brought the moment when dedicated work turned into certainty. The setting: Fuzhou, Fujian Province—China’s tea region. Changyu and the Chateau had invited local customers to an afternoon tasting, preceded by an introduction to the region’s tea culture, about which the winemaker admits he knew remarkably little at the time.
And then came the detail anyone who has ever read a room will understand immediately: on the parking lot, not a single “normal” car—the most modest one was a Porsche Cayenne. Expectations were high. So was the stage.
In the middle of the tasting, an elderly gentleman rose. He lifted his glass for a toast and said slowly, in English:
“Young man, today is a great day—for me and for China as well. All my life I have drunk only Bordeaux and Australian wines, but from today onward I will also choose Chinese wines from Chateau Changyu Moser XV. Thank you for your work at the Chateau and for these wonderful wines—China can now be proud of its own wines and enjoy them from this moment on.”
What followed was not a PR scene but a human moment: tears from the guest and the winemaker, first silence, then applause—and finally an evening that ended in exuberant celebration, ganbei after ganbei.
A genuine goosebump experience that still resonates today—and which Moser remembers as confirmation of the work that has taken shape step by step since 2015.
What Follows: Aspiration as an Attitude
For the team, this story is not a sentimental flashback—it is an obligation: to move forward every year, to become better every year. The guiding principle resembles something Steve Jobs once formulated: show respect to people by creating something wonderful for them.
Here, that means crafting wines that move wine lovers around the world.
That Ningxia is now often described as the “Napa Valley of China” is not a marketing phrase, but an expression of potential finally becoming reality.
New ideas and projects will be announced in 2026.
With best wishes for the holiday season and a very happy New Year 2026.