Twelve years ago, Marc Curtis started a business with the unlikeliest of propositions: bring tourists to China to try its wine. “When I first started, I would speak to groups in the U.S. and the first question was, ‘Wait, there’s wine in China?’ and the second one was, ‘Leaded or unleaded?’” says the owner of the aptly named China Wine Tours.

Today, Chinese wine is booming. The Communist government toned down its anti-business rhetoric, which has helped encourage small winemaking businesses, while the new, wealthier middle class has emerged as an eager market. Local production, too, has ramped up in both quantity and quality: In 2015, China overtook France as the second-largest wine grower in the world by vineyard area, with a landmass around the size of Puerto Rico under vine. It’s the world's fifth-biggest consumer of wine overall by volume, per the International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR), and the world's top consumer of reds, besting heavyweights France and Italy, per Vinexpo.

There are six major grape-growing regions in China, though only three are really primed for visitors: Shandong and Shaanxi provinces, and the autonomous Ningxia region. Among the others, keep an eye on Yunnan, where French conglomerate LVMH has invested heavily in a high-end, high-altitude vineyard near Shangri-La at the Himalayan foothills (pictured). Via the vineyards bolted to the steep slopes, it’s producing the impressive, just-released Ao Yun, a blend of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. (The winery, unfortunately, isn’t yet prepped for visitors and, even so, a journey there involves several hours’ bumpy drive on dirt roads.)

Curious to sample China’s own vintages in situ? Here’s a primer to help with planning.

Beneath the Changyu Wine Culture Museum is this Grand Cellar, first built in 1894. Getty

You’ll find this area, with more than 1,000,000 acres under vine, in the central northern reaches of the country on the edge of the Gobi desert. The weather—the climate varies between arid and semi-arid—and terroir (easily irrigated by the Yellow River) are both favorable, and the government has committed major funds to underpinning the developing industry here, says wine expert Emilie Steckenborn, who hosts the podcast, Bottled in China. Come here if you’re a pioneer: “This is for the adventurous wine drinker who’s willing to experience history as it’s being made," says Steckenborn. "The people are passion-driven. You’ve got to be an open-minded taster."

Steckenborn suggests bedding down at the sole luxury hotel in the city right now, the five-star Kempinski Yinchuan. (To get there: Fly into Ningxai airport. Given the distance between vineyards, don’t plan to visit more than three in one day. Book a driver to maximize your time, but instead of relying on pricier, hotel-provided cars, email the vineyard and ask for recommendations. It’s also worthwhile emailing to schedule a visit in advance, as even the wineries with tasting rooms will not staff them continuously.