September is the project of Yujie (Gigi) Gao, a former architectural designer who inherited her parents' 20-hectare vineyard on Gezi Mountain in Ningxia and set about reimagining what it could produce. Where the family originally planted with conventional ambitions, Gigi has redirected the estate toward a style rarely found in the region: fruit purity, terroir expression and freshness above all else. The winery remains a family affair, with her parents managing the vineyard and her sister leading sales, while Gigi directs winemaking with a quiet precision that is starting to attract serious attention.

The Helan Chardonnay is 100% Chardonnay from Gezi Mountain, pressed and fermented cool at 16°C over seven days. Half the wine is transferred to new 225L French oak for six months to undergo malolactic fermentation, while the other half rests in neutral oak, the two halves then blended before bottling. The result is a Chardonnay of real balance: textural and gently creamy from the oak influence, but kept fresh and precise by the neutral half. Wild ferment, vegan, sustainably farmed.