Domaine de Long Dai
Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite)
“Our story as winemakers began 150 years ago at Château Lafite in France. Ten years ago, we decided to start the same story in China.” – Saskia de Rothschild
Domaine de Long Dai estate – developed by the Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) – can now count on 25 hectares of vines in full production.
“One thing we now know is the more the vines have aged, the better the wines we have produced, so we are excited to
keep learning from this terroir over the years to come.” – Olivier Trégoat, Director of DBR (Lafite) international estates.
The name Long Dai comes from the Rothschild family’s wish to find an identity that could show how this wine is the
perfect balance between nature, and the care of men and women who have helped it reveal its best potential.
HISTORY
The name Long Dai gives tribute to Shandong’s exceptional local history. Inspired by the Taishan sacred mountain in Shandong, Long Dai represents an idealized mountain that rose through the power of nature and was then carefully chiseled by human hands. The family's choice of name describes what they accomplish as winemakers: try to perfect the raw materials provided by nature.
When the land was purchased in 2009 everything had to be set up from scratch. The technical team started by exploring the soil, over 400 soil pits were dug to identify the best locations to plant vines. At Long Dai viticulture of great precision is practiced.
PEOPLE
The Domaine de Long Dai property is managed by General Manager Charles Treutenaere since April 2018, with the assistance of Juliette Couderc, Technical Manager; Zhang Peng, Vineyard Manager and Liang Chen, Cellar Master. Olivier Trégoat, Technical Director of DBR (Lafite) estates outside Bordeaux, provides technical supervision.
The vineyard has been set up in collaboration with the local farmers of the nearby village of Mulangou. Their contribution has been precious to complete the knowhow of the DBR teams. Ten of them have joined the team on a permanent basis and, when required, they seek seasonal help amongst the other villagers.
TERROIR
Domaine de Long Dai is nestled at the heart of the Qiu Shan Valley in the Shandong Province in the North eastern part of China. The climate here is hot-tempered by the influence of the Yellow Sea located a mere 20km away. The region is highly dependent on agriculture which, combined with the granitic soil, make it a place of interest to grow vines. The winters are cold, but not as cold as other Chinese wine regions and do not require the vines to be covered.
The vines, planted in 2011 on terraces built in the granite soils from the foothills of the Qiu Shan Valley, benefit from Shandong’s beautiful late-season growing grapes that can be harvested at full maturity, by hand, through successive pickings. The 30 hectares of Long Dai vineyards are spread across 360 terraces as per the traditional agricultural methods in the region. This has enabled the preservation of the landscape and the soil structure, but also requires extra manual work and the use of adapted machinery.
