Puchang: A Bordelais in China's Hottest Place
A Bordelais in China’s Hottest Place
Section titled “A Bordelais in China’s Hottest Place”When Gerard Colin came to Turpan in 2013, he was 71.
This Bordelais (born in Madagascar, oenology master’s from the University of Bordeaux, formerly of Château Teyssier in Saint-Émilion and Château Clarke in Listrac) chose at the end of his career an unlikely path.
First Grace Vineyard in Taigu, Shanxi. Colin joined in 2001 and helped build the winemaking system. Then Domaine de Long Dai, Lafite’s project in Penglai. Then Puchang.
His Grace and Long Dai stories belong to the Shandong/Shanxi chapters. Here I only write what he did at Puchang.
Colin’s title was Bordeaux consultant. He partnered with the Italian winemaker Loris Tartaglia. A Bordelais and a Venetian, in China’s hottest place.
2013 was Colin’s first full vintage at Puchang and possibly his last. His health declined over a few years at the estate. He passed away in France on 9 February 2017, at age 75. Puchang was his final, unfinished project in China.
What can a Bordeaux-trained winemaker, formed in a maritime climate, do for a place with under 30 mm of annual rain and summers above 40°C?
The answer, I suspect, is: provide a standard. Colin’s value at Puchang was not teaching them to make Bordeaux-style wine (Turpan terroir cannot make Bordeaux) but demonstrating the discipline of winemaking: cleanliness, temperature control, fruit selection, barrel management. These fundamentals were not yet a given in Chinese wine at the time he arrived.
The Cheung Family and Turpan
Section titled “The Cheung Family and Turpan”Puchang’s founder is K.K. Cheung, a Hong Kong entrepreneur.
His wife was sent down to Xinjiang during the Cultural Revolution; the family carries a long connection to this land. In 2008, after tasting a Puchang-area wine, K.K. Cheung decided to acquire the vineyard. The first vintage released in 2009.
Puchang sits at the Hongliu River Horticultural Farm in Turpan. The vineyard is around 54–67 hectares. Ecocert organic certification was earned in 2013. In Turpan, under 30 mm of rain and with near-zero disease pressure, organic farming is less a choice than an inevitability. You don’t need pesticides because there is nothing to kill.
Georgian Varieties: Puchang’s Best Card
Section titled “Georgian Varieties: Puchang’s Best Card”Puchang’s variety mix is unique among Chinese estates.
| Variety | Origin | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Rkatsiteli (白羽) | Georgia | Flagship white |
| Saperavi (晚红蜜) | Georgia | Flagship red |
| Beichun (北醇) | Chinese hybrid (Beijing-bred 1954) | Distinctive red |
| Muscat | International | supporting |
| Cabernet Sauvignon | International | supporting |
| Pinot Noir | International | supporting |
| Riesling | International | supporting |
Rkatsiteli and Saperavi (two Georgian varieties) are Puchang’s most differentiated asset.
Officially imported from Georgia in 1956, they have a presence in northern China. But the only boutique estate seriously vinifying and promoting them is Puchang.
Rkatsiteli is naturally high-acid and holds acidity even in Turpan’s extreme heat. This is critical. Given that Turpan’s core problem is sugar runs faster than flavor, a high-acid variety is naturally well-matched. Puchang’s Rkatsiteli scored 92 from the Robert Parker team and DWWA Gold in 2019. Their 2022 Rkatsiteli orange wine (skin-contact) made James Suckling’s China Top 100 in consecutive years: #6 in 2024, #8 in 2025.
Saperavi is one of the world’s few teinturier varieties: flesh and juice are both red. Extreme color, high acidity, balanced tannin. Robert Parker team gave the 2014 vintage 94. James Suckling gave the 2017 vintage 93.
Beichun is Puchang’s third card. This 1954 Beijing hybrid (Muscat Hamburg × Vitis amurensis), extremely cold-tolerant, high-acid, has been almost unknown elsewhere in China. D’Agata wrote what is plausibly the world’s first English-language vertical tasting of Puchang Beichun, scoring the 2018 vintage 92+ and calling it “essentially unknown but full of potential.” Puchang has even made a Beichun grappa (Italian pomace brandy).
Georgian varieties + a Chinese native hybrid + organic certification + karez irrigation. Puchang’s variety strategy is not imitating anyone. It is constructing a globally unique narrative.
After Colin
Section titled “After Colin”Following Colin’s death in 2017, Loris Tartaglia took full winemaking control.
A Venetian, 20 years of experience, Tartaglia joined Puchang at the same time as Colin in 2013. After Colin’s passing, Puchang’s varietal strategy did not contract; it became bolder:
- Doubling down on Rkatsiteli and orange wine: now the signature on the China Top 100
- A 2022 Beichun grappa, $28 for 500 ml
- Brand narrative shifting from Bordeaux-consultant endorsement to Silk Road multicultural: more differentiated
Under Colin, Puchang’s foundation was a Bordelais in China. Under Tartaglia, it became Georgian varieties’ new home on the Silk Road. On the international score sheet the transition has been successful. Puchang has not declined since 2017; varietal identity has actually sharpened.
The estate continues operating. Distribution in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia. During the 2022 pandemic, Puchang donated more than 8,000 meals in Hong Kong.
The story is told. Now my tasting experience.
I have tasted Puchang. The verdict is not high.
I won’t spell out details. Taste threshold and tasting setting vary, and giving a precise number would be unfair. The overall judgment: the Puchang wines I tasted did not match the quality the international scores suggested.
Several reasons could be at play. Vintage variation: Puchang’s strong years (the 2014 Saperavi at Parker 94, for example) I have not had. Storage variation: Chinese-market cold-chain is less stable than Hong Kong or Singapore. And most likely, the Turpan terroir ceiling I outlined earlier: sugar maturity racing ahead of flavor maturity is not something variety choice alone can fully solve.
Puchang’s varietal strategy is the most creative I have seen in any Chinese estate. Rkatsiteli’s high-acid suitability to Turpan heat; Saperavi’s color and structure; Beichun’s China’s own variety narrative. Every step is right.
But the right variety strategy does not guarantee what is in the glass. A great estate is measured not just by which variety it uses or what score it earned, but by would you pay to buy another bottle yourself.
Puchang’s story is better than its wine.
That is not a put-down. To keep making wine in a place with under 30 mm of rain and 50°C summers is itself respect-worthy. Colin’s legacy, Tartaglia’s persistence, the Cheung family’s investment: these are real. Puchang’s position on the Chinese wine map is irreplaceable: the only estate seriously working Georgian varieties, the only one farming organically and irrigating with karez, the pioneer pulling Turpan from raisin empire toward wine region.
It is just that pioneer and great wine are still a road apart.
Estate Information
Section titled “Estate Information”| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Hongliu River Horticultural Farm, Turpan |
| Area | 54–67 ha |
| Annual production | ~130,000–150,000 bottles |
| Organic certification | Ecocert (2013) |
| Visiting | By appointment |
| Website | puchangwine.com |
PLACEHOLDER:hero-puchang at the top. PLACEHOLDER:portrait-gerard-colin inside §1 — Colin during his time at Puchang, if available. PLACEHOLDER:photo-rkatsiteli-vines inside §3 — the Rkatsiteli block.