Ao Yun

The 2018 Ao Yun is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 7% Syrah and 4% Petit Verdot. 2017 was the first vintage where Merlot was included in the blend, and the higher proportion in the 2018 vintage is partly a reflection of vintage conditions but also a sign of Ao Yun’s increased interest in the variety (I saw new Merlot vines being established in an amphitheater-like vineyard in the village of Sinong in May 2021). The 2018 Ao Yun is very deep purple and very much in the emergent "Ao Yun style" showing lifted, perfumed Cabernet-dominated fruit, here with plenty of crushed blackberry, cassis and black cherry with ripe green bell pepper and other pyrazine notes and some toasted new oak with hints of smoke and clove. Full-bodied with that Ao Yun puissance of coating, fine-grained and chewy tannins, robust but well-integrated 14.5% alcohol and some lively acidity, especially in this cooler vintage (note also that, at this altitude, Ao Yun naturally comes in around pH 3.35-3.45). As such, the wine has an affinity with Mendoza Cabernet, at least structurally speaking. This is indeed much more of a "cooler vintage" expression rather than the more "solar" 2015, but do not think this equates to something like a cooler vintage in Bordeaux. There is abundant fruit achieved through rigorous selection and also picking at optimal ripeness aided by plenty of UV light (intense sunshine here). So, the 2018 has some similarity with the 2017 in terms of weather and fruit expression, and on this first tasting, albeit at high altitude at Ao Yun itself, quality is similar to the 2017 and 2015, but actually even better than those two vintages on this first showing. Note also that this is a baby of a wine that will need tasting again in the future. Supremely youthful, it would be worth waiting a year or so before broaching this. The 2018 will undoubtedly repay long-term cellaring.

The 2019 Ao Yun has an intensely deep purple appearance. On the nose, there is already appealing, immensely powerful dark fruit showing abundant cassis, black cherry, bramble, blackberry and blueberry fruit with some subtle, leafy herbaceous character (sage, green bell pepper, mint) combining with very well-integrated new oak notes of vanilla, clove, toast and smoke (note that Ao Yun only sees around 35% new French barriques with the remainder being matured in stoneware vessels and old oak). On the palate, the wine is immensely full-bodied but far from heavy, with vibrant acidity and very coating, ripe, fine-grained and polished tannins. Dulou reports that this was the first vintage when the entire harvest was gravity-fed through their winemaking facility in Adong with much gentler crushing resulting in partially opened berries retaining seeds inside (even through to racking the wine off gross lees). He also now opts to ferment in narrow, higher-filled vessels, which results in easier cap management, a less-aerated cap with less thermal variation. All of which helps explain the refinement and integration of tannin in the 2019. There is a scintillating core of complex fruit, herbaceous character and subtle new oak notes that are harmoniously integrated. With its very long length, the 2019 Ao Yun is unsurprisingly very youthful and will show better from 2023 at the earliest, even if it can already be appreciated. It will also develop impressively in bottle over the next 15 years or so. In sum, 2019 is the completest statement to date of everything Ao Yun has aspired to be in terms of attaining the best blend achievable from this complex patchwork of vineyard sites stretched across different villages at markedly different elevations.