2023 Silver Heights Marselan

Founded in 2007 by Emma Gao and her father, Gao Lin, Silver Heights is a family-run estate perched on the eastern slopes of the Helan Mountains in Ningxia, China’s most dynamic winegrowing region. After earning her National Oenologist Diploma in Bordeaux and interning at Château Calon-Ségur, Emma returned home to craft expressive, terroir-driven wines from Ningxia’s high desert. With vineyards at 1,200m altitude, the estate benefits from intense sunlight, sparse rainfall, and stark diurnal shifts, allowing grapes to ripen slowly while preserving freshness. Soils of clay, gravel, and pebbles add texture and tension. Emma has farmed organically from the beginning and introduced biodynamic practices in 2017, blending Western technique with the rhythms of China’s traditional lunisolar calendar.