The Name
Heavenly Questions takes its name from Tianwen 天問, a classical Chinese poem composed as a series of questions posed to the heavens about gods, heroes, and the mysteries of the cosmos. The literary work preserves many of the myths and legends of ancient China, including the story of Houyi and the nine suns. The name felt fitting for a wine made from our Houyi Estate Vineyard.

The Label
In the Chinese legend about Houyi, ten suns once rose into the sky together, their combined heat scorching the earth and threatening all life. Houyi, a master archer, was called upon to restore order; drawing his bow, he shot down nine of the suns, leaving a single sun to warm the world and reestablish balance between heaven and earth. That notion of balance, precision and resilience is a daily inspiration to our journey as winegrowers.

To provide a modern visual form to this story, we commissioned artist Taher Jaoui, whose work often blends bold color forms with gestural marks, numbers, and symbols reminiscent of chalkboard equations. Jaoui’s practice frequently explores the tension between art and science, intuition and calculation—the same duality that defines our approach to winemaking.

In this artwork, nine black circles represent the nine suns shot down by Houyi, scattered in a vibrant field of colorful abstract forms. The work incorporates many of the visual elements that recur in his broader practice—mathematical formulas, symbols, and gestural marks that feel both playful and precise.

Today Taher Jaoui’s original painting, “Nine Suns,” hangs in the Great Room of Houyi Estate.