Xige

Estate 2018

• 

  Vintage 2017
  92 points www.jamessuckling.com

This shows good complexity and development, with nuanced cedar

to the minty fruit and sweet tobacco leaves. Sweet berries on the

palate, which is rounded by smooth tannins. Very long, creamy and

savory finish. Just a little too pleasing and generous in the end, but

this is by far the most complex and savory offering from Xige this

year. 95% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet gernischt. 60,000

bottles made.

• 

  Vintage 2017
  94 points Wine Advocate Jr

Xige Estate’s top wine is simply known as "Xige Estate" and

colloquially as the "first label," with 2017 being the inaugural vintage.

A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Gernischt

(Carmenere) and assembled from the best plots of Xige’s older

vines—20-year-old plants count as "old vine" material in Ningxia—

the 2017 Xige first label has a deep ruby appearance. On the nose,

there is plenty of cedary and spiced new oak (vanilla, clove, toast,

smoke) that meld together well with the lifted, perfumed ripe dark

fruit (cassis, black cherry, bramble) complemented by a touch of

herbaceous character. On the palate, this is full-bodied, with marked

concentration, lifting acidity, ripe coating and fine-grained tannins

and a ripe core of Cabernet-dominant fruit that is well-integrated

with the distinct sweet and savory new oak. A relatively young wine

with considerable length, although the 2017 Xige is already

approachable, it will undeniably benefit from further time in bottle,

developing tertiary complexity over the next 10 years. This is

certainly one of China’s most stylish reds.