Wild Harvested

Tag: zhaozhou

  • Drunk soliloquies about Nannuo in the shadow of a gushu

    Drunk soliloquies about Nannuo in the shadow of a gushu

    On a day when the cold morning breach seemed to have taken away even the most weak semblance of chromatism, and with this the already remote desire to conclude something at the end of a dull sunrise, I decided to make a tea session with this 2016 Sheng Pu from Nannuo in the hope of rejoin me with the part of the brain that welcomes the tactile sensations.

    It was a greener puer in the past while today we can also found leaves processed with a longer period of withering, a shorter steaming, or a lower shaqing temperature but for a longer time, all factors that bring back to a more amber color than the pale yellow one to which history has accustomed us. But what does not change is its complexity wrapped in an introverted blanket, destricable only through the patience of the infusions, where the essence of tea seems to rest on one’s being, curled up in an aromatic profile that is shown in its becoming, revealing itself sip after sip in a sort of amniotic tranquility.

    In the 1950s, while the country was raised from the rubble of the Republic of China and the families looked to the future with the losses of the civil war behind them, at the same time on Mount Nannuo the foundations were laid for one of the most important tea research centers in Banna.
    Researchers such as Zhou Pengju, Cai Xitao and the team of the Nannuo Mountain Tea Research Institute contributed to identifying the area as one of the oldest in the tea cultivation panorama and to classify varieties such as the Nannuo Daye (Yunkang 10).

    Through the fog, above the red earth and below the blue sky, the history of an entire territory is consecrated through the infused leaves that in those years of reconstruction appeared as balconies of the heart, as disenchanting voices of each of those 30 villages that live in the mountain.

    This @zhaozhoutea tea is the sheng pu “No.833” from the spring of 2016 from Nannuo gushu trees. It is not only a very representative sheng of Nannuoshan, but it is an example of an evolution of the way to make tea in this area, a historical and mnemonic study from a tasting point of view.

    The wet leaves are extremely evocative, report the hints of a mountain caravan, with herbaceous perfumes, moss, wet rock, wild flowers and gooseberry. Inside it are perceived scent of bakery, lemon tarte, leather, white peach and thai mango. During the infusions, shades of tamarind, walnuts and quatre quarte cake appear while the tostated seeds crack on the wok.
    The golden liqueur highlights nuances of evolution and a contemporary conception of leaf processing, with medium astringency and bitterness. On the palate there is a coexistence between the herbaceous flavors and the fruity- citrousy ones of peach and orange zest. Huigan is pleasant and balanced, integrated with other taste sensations, not predominant as a Naka sheng to bring a comparison. The finish is persistent and articulated on notes of gardenia, persimmons, apple and creamy aromas, closing a session that becomes proportionally sweeter to its prolonging.

  • Xigui, the other side of Bangdong

    Xigui, the other side of Bangdong

    After talking about Mangfei, Yongde county, we travel along the G323 in a 2-hour journey through the pre-Western architecture of Heping village, passing Bangdong gardens, leaving Mangmai until we enter the wild forest to reach Xigui, the last village of the west bank of Lancangjiang.

    The roads are unpaved and where it meets the asphalt this is covered with a patina of red clay dust, the architecture underlines the rural context and the mere functionality of the buildings. Tea plants define the extra-urban landscape sloping down to the river that separates them from the Xiushai forest on the opposite bank. Here the inhabitants catch the fish and take it to the local inn, while on the other side the foragers with weathered faces give no rest, they welcome the leaves between their rough palms with their shoulders anteroverted in their cotton shirts, with arched backs, bent by the severity of the years. They are intent on collecting the material of that mountain, between 700 and 1400 meters, and working it until the sun goes down, until it sets in Lancang and the river bank disappears, so that space and time in Xigui appear in their absolute.

    The varieties are mainly Bangdong large-leaf and medium-leaf, with some small-leaf tree, which is a big difference from other Lincang teas. The forest, the plateau and the currents of Lancangjiang isolate the pedoclimatic context from the rest of the Linxiang district, making this tea unique.

    The 2007 Xigui pu from Zhaozhou comes from 200 year-old trees, which is almost the maximum age found in this area, and it is a tea that perfectly translates the character of this terroir, with its slopes, the soil rich in organic matter, the temperature range, the different biotypes. It denotes a composed exuberance rounded off by the years of aging, a sweetness that sets a soliloquy in a sensorial harmony where little space is given to bitterness and astringency, and like a good Xigui it shows a wild aromatic complexity that contrasts with an elegant and refined olfactory bouquet.

    The wet leaves range from apricot jam to spices, reminiscent of nectarine peach, petrichor, medicinal herbs, leather. Accompanies a light note of camphor, followed by vanilla, mineral fragrances, sandalwood, undergrowth, orchard, acacia’s honey, mushrooms and black pepper. The orange liqueur appears dense already to the eye, in the mouth it is round and less multidimensional than other Xigui, the sweetness takes over almost immediately, a characteristic also provided by the 15 years of refinement. The sip is syrupy, dense, enveloping, with sweet and fruity aromas, with jasmine and herbs flavors. The sweetness re-emerges wrapped in citrus notes while the qi is precocious and invigorating.