Review: 2014 ‘Family Reserve Red’ | Silver Heights Winery | Ningxia, China

Reviewed in March 2019 by Kyle Reno Lenci

I am absolutely impressed with the 2014 Family Reserve Red from Silver Heights.  It’s a serious Bordeaux blend from China.

The label of the wine is beautiful, with blue and black mountains rising over the plains.  This is the view from Ningxia, as Helan Mountain (where the local appellation gets its name) towers over the vineyards, blocking the advancement of the Gobi Desert on the other side.

This vintage is a 60-40 Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend. It’s aged 12 months in French oak barrels (30% new) and although restrained, the complexity this adds to the wine is undeniable.

On the nose there is violets, dark plum, capsicum right at the front.  Chocolate, fresh and baked blackberries, and a subtle menthol note round out the aromas  There’s also just a touch of clove and vanilla to sweeten the deal. Caramel appears after a longer waft and reminds me that this wine is pushing 5 years old.

All this perfume translates beautifully to the palette with intense fruit, a balanced meatiness and lingering bitter chocolate.  This wine is textural, acidic, and full bodied with sandy smooth tannin. The chocolate and stewed blackberries linger on the finish.

Drink this wine with steak-frites or mint braised lamb.  In Shanghai, I enjoyed this wine with fried prawns in chilli and peanuts and they (to my surprise) went together splendidly.  

Recommended to decant up to an hour before serving, cellar for 7-10 years beyond harvest for further development.