Introduction
It was 2018, at Bindi, when I first met Alex Xu. We hit it off almost instantly. There was a quiet magnetism to him, an intensity not from volume but conviction. Few people think as deeply about wine as Alex. His musings on the Miao Lu website are proof enough. He truly gets wine, not just as a beverage but as a language.
Shanghai-born, Alex studied sociology and art history in America, an intellectual path that might have led to a life in letters. If he weren’t making wine, he’d likely be writing brilliantly about it. He passed through private equity, but the kitchen called louder. In 2014, he opened Baoism, his first restaurant. A year later, during a retreat to his family home in Yunnan, he noticed the rocky, well-draining soils surrounding their village. Something clicked. Viticulture became a calling.
Miao Lu (淼庐; “cottage of boundless water”) is nestled in Yuhu Village, near Lijiang in Yunnan Province. At the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山), the vineyards sit at an elevation of 2,800 meters above sea level. The founding vineyard, La Roche (洛克园), spans three hectares of south-facing terraces on ancestral Naxi land. The soils are composed of limestone and marine basalt, lending a distinctive foundation to the vines.
2023 marked Alex’s first commercial release. Now, just two vintages in, his wines already have a distinctive identity. These are wines of weightless intensity – seamless and mineral-driven Chardonnay and crystalline, aromatic Pinot Noir. Nothing feels forced, just purity and precision, built on structure and intent.
In the Vineyard
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are planted at high density, ranging from 6,000 to 33,000 vines/hectare, and farmed mostly by hand. Over 20 unique genotypes, including some massale selections, populate La Roche. Vines are already mutating to site, expressing entirely new biotypes over just a few years. The vines are own-rooted – possible due to the site’s isolation and virgin soils. No chemicals are used; farming respects sap flow and emphasizes late pruning, ploughing, and trimming. The grapes are hand-harvested.
In the Cellar
Alex’s approach in the cellar is minimalist but intentional. Fermentations are spontaneous and vigorous, recalling pre-chemical Burgundy. All wines see 100% new François Frères oak. A traditional basket press is used.
Pinot Noir is fermented whole-cluster, lightly crushed, co-fermented by parcel, with gentle cap management and no press cuts. Chardonnay is pressed whole-cluster, hard and slow, directly into barrel, with oxidative handling at the outset followed by a long, reductive élevage.
Style
The Pinot Noir is crystalline, tensile, transparent, and perfumed, with site-driven purity. The Chardonnay is intense, textural, and tightly coiled, with enormous dry extract yet restrained and chiselled.
Wines
"La Roche" Pinot Noir
From own-rooted, high-density vines averaging 5 years of age, earliest planted in 2017, on south-facing limestone and marine basalt terraces at 2,800 m. Fermented spontaneously as whole clusters, lightly crushed, co-fermented by parcel, with gentle cap management and no press cuts. Élevage in 100% new François Frères oak.
"La Roche" Chardonnay
From the same climat as the Pinot Noir, but on slightly lower terraces. Whole-cluster pressed, hard and slow, into 100% new François Frères oak, with oxidative handling at the outset and long, reductive élevage.
