Cathay Pacific brings Ao Yun wine from the Himalayas to the skies

Flying with Cathay Pacific means being able to discover world-class wines at altitude when you travel. Among our renowned winemaking partners, we’re proud to work with a vineyard in the Chinese Mainland that produces a wine remarkable both for its story and taste: Ao Yun , the first wine estate in the Himalayas.

“When we were looking for wines to be served in Cathay Pacific First class cabins, we chose to feature two Chinese wines; one of them is Ao Yun,” explains Ronald Khoo, Wine, Spirits and Beverages Manager, Customer Experience Design at Cathay. 

Khoo had been tracking the winery since it released its first vintage in 2016, after which it was quickly hailed for leading the future of wine in China. “I first met Maxence Dulou – Ao Yun’s estate manager and technical director – many years ago, and I saw the kind of ambitious and meticulous person that he is,” recalls Khoo. “I've been to many blind tastings that he conducted just to try to improve their wines, and this gave me real confidence that this guy is really serious about doing it. That’s why we invited them to do this collaboration.”

Available on board Cathay Pacific aircraft, Ao Yun’s wine offers a tasting experience deeply connected to the skies. Its home in the high-altitude vineyards of Shangri-La in China’s southwestern Yunnan province shares surprising similarities with the conditions of air travel. 

“The plane flies at 30,000 feet, but the conditions inside are like 6,000 feet. Ao Yun's cellar is located at 7,800 feet,” Dulou says. For those tasting wines on board, Dulou offers a unique insight: ensuring the wine is served at exactly 16°C. “At this altitude, the wine tastes very differently than at sea level. It loses some finesse of aromas, and tannins are drier because the air is drier.”

How Ao Yun started a sky-high winery in the Himalayas 

After a four-year search for the perfect location, Dulou settled on this remote region of Yunnan for its unique climatic balance. The Frenchman moved his family to Ao Yun in 2013, bringing with him years of winemaking experience across Burgundy, Bordeaux, Chile and South Africa. 

“We thought the climate was cool enough to have great freshness and ageing potential, but warm enough to ripen grapes,” Dulou explains. “This permits us to get wine with long ageing potential.”

Ao Yun’s cooler climate and mountain shade creates riper, softer tannins, he adds: “Having a higher diversity of terroirs gives a lot of different wine personalities that we can blend together to create Ao Yun.” 

Farming at such a high altitude is a monumental task: the intense UV light risks burning leaves and grapes, whilst the dry air requires precise canopy management to prevent the vines from struggling. “This is all done by hand with 2,400 hours of work per hectare per year, which is four times more than a fully hand-cultivated vineyard in Switzerland,” says Dulou, highlighting the biggest challenge: managing incredibly small, diverse plots in a remote area where attracting and retaining talent is difficult. 

This dedication continues in the cellar, where a restrained use of oak is exercised to preserve the wine's inherent character. The finished product has a taste profile that is “a paradox between freshness and ripeness on the nose, density and tension in the mouth, with a very soft tannin and a saline finish,” says Dulou. 

While Ao Yun has been hailed as China’s “first” Grand Cru – a term traditionally only applied to French wines – acclaim is not Dulou’s motivation. Instead he is driven by the goal of “pioneering new terroir, excellence in the vineyard and cellar, but also rarity.”

Winemaking in the Chinese Mainland

Ao Yun’s international acclaim highlights a growing appreciation of Chinese wines globally. “More and more people are realising that China is producing good wines,” says Dulou. “The wines are getting better and better.”

Khoo notes the willingness to embrace technology at top Chinese wineries, including Ao Yun, which uses satellite imagery to analyse sunlight and climate to ensure ideal conditions. “China is on the right path where they are focusing on quality and not mass production,” he adds. “I think China is going to produce some really great wines.”

So, as you savour a glass of Ao Yun above the clouds, you are not just enjoying any wine; you are part of a pioneering story of passion and precision, tasting a Himalayan Grand Cru in an environment that echoes its own extraordinary origins.