China’s Kanaan Winery: proving ‘neigh-sayers’ wrong?

Kanaan’s range of wines which are inspired by the winemaker’s love of horses could buck Hong Kong’s European wine drinking trends as they launch in the city later on this month.

Winemaker Wang Fang with her prize-winning Pretty Pony

Its 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot blend was described by Jancis Robinson during a Chinese wine tasting as: “The wine that I thought was best of all turned out to be made by a Chinese woman called Crazy Fang on a new Ningxia estate called Kanaan,” and now wine drinkers of Hong Kong will be able to get their hands on further offerings from the Chinese winery, courtesy of Summergate.

Kanaan nestles in the foothills of Ningxia’s Helan Mountain which is known in the region for producing high quality Chinese wine and where other estates have set up shop, including Pernod Ricard’s Helan Mountain, Silver Heights and LVMH’s Chandon China.

The driving force behind Kanaan Winery is Wang Fang (better known as Crazy Fang) who returned to her homeland in 2011 and followed in her father’s footsteps of making wine.

The range (whose names and labels are inspired by Fang’s love of horses) includes the entry level, Wild Pony, a blend of Cabernet Gernischt, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; another Cabernet/Merlot blend, Black Beauty; a Riesling and an off-dry blend of Riesling, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Fang’s Pretty Pony made from small quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from Kanaan’s premium vineyards has already made headlines; scooping the Asia Regional Trophy at the 2013 Decanter China Awards and also the Best Chinese Wine Award at the Wine100 event in Shanghai last year.

Fang said at the time: “Pretty Pony is the result of my dream that the new emerging China fine wine industry is young and of full energy like my ‘Pretty Pony’ and I hope Chinese fine wine are ready to thrive to be stronger and better and one day showcase to the world how exciting Chinese fine wine could be.”

Despite what neigh-sayers may say about Chinese wines, the launch of Kanaan in Hong Kong could be a sign that Chinese wine should be taken seriously in a city known for its loyalty to French fancies.