hong kong's very first winery - the 8th estate winery

now, we can truly say that the wine fever has reached hong kong in a big way with the opening tonight of its very 1st urban winery.

yes, you read me right.  it's now official, hong kong has its very own winery, making and barrel maturing it's very own wine in it's very own cellars. in the 8th estate winery that is.

how, you will ask, can hong kong, a tropical climate where jungle and concrete dominates, make it's own wines? ' well, it seems that we are more connected than ever before. 

from various parts of the world, de-stemmed high quality grapes are brought-in frozen right here in an industrial estate more famous for its antique furniture and home decoration shops.  they are then processed in a traditional manner under the expert hands of wine master gianni seminary and matured in oak barrels for a period of many months before bottling and release. 

the cellars now contain enough wine to fill 85,000 bottles of various varieties including chardonnay, gewurztraminer, sauvignon blanc, cabernet franc, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, and ice wine.

their idea is to monitor the progress of the maturation and blend hong kong's very own "meritage" within a few months.  they also want to offer guests and clients, the opportunity to create their own blends, under the guidance of gianni, and preserve their own barrel in the estate until they are satisfied that the wine has reached maturity for bottling under the client's personal label.

tonight, we barrel tasted several of the wines made last february including a merlot, a cabernet sauvignon, a shiraz, and a cabernet franc and some were showing quite a bit of promise for a 1st attempt.  no doubt the next "vintage"will be much better coming and, as we speak, there are tons of frozen grapes on the way to hong kong including some from chianti and piedmont that were picked this last fall by the team in charge of the 8th estate.

besides, the facilities are interesting in themselves as they offer those who are passionate about wine an incredible venue for wine tasting, dinners, and other wine related activities.  before the 8th estate, we had to ride a plane for 10 hours before we could reach the winery.  now, within a 10 minutes cab ride from central, we are as close as the real thing.

something else, i tell you.

the 8th estate winery: unit 302, harbour industrial center, 10 lee hing st., ap lei chau, hong kong tel: +852 2518 0922

Published by jc on November 25, 2008

another wine event of a lifetime - acker merrall pre-auction wine tasting...

this blog sometimes reads like a kind of list of exploits.  either for my own records or for some showmanship, i will leave that up to you.  but this one is worth telling and, i promise, i will start writing more about my wset diploma in the coming days and month so that i can share the secrets i am learning about from deep inside the moutains of books i have been poring over in the last few weeks.

in the meantime however, let me tell you about this magnificient wine tasting i attended last friday.  offered by the good people of acker merrall & condit as a preview of their next day auction, the list was in itself amazing, pretty amazing.  i will spare you the details of my tasting notes but will nonetheless list the wines so that you can understand that the world of fine wine is very special indeed...

bordeaux:

chateau ausone 2004

chateau cheval blanc 1983, 1995

chateau haut brion 1979

chateau la conseillante 1989

chateau lafite 1976, 1988, 1990

chateau lafleur 1986, 2001

chateau latour 1995, 1996

chateau lynch bages 1982

chateau margaux 1986, 1990, 1996

chateau montrose 2003

chateau mouton rothschild 1983

chateau pichon lalande 1986, 2003

chateau pavie 2003

 

burgundy:

comte de vogue bonnes mares 2004

j.roty charmes chambertin tvv 2004

domaine de lambrays clos de lambrays 2005

j.grivot clos de vougeot 2005

drc echezeaux 2004 (amazing!!), 2004

a. rousseau g.c. clos st-jacques 2005

leroy gevrey chambertin les combottes 1996

a.gros richebourg 2005

bouchard volnay les caillerets acc 2005

 

rhône:

chateau de baucastel cdp homm. a j. perrin 1999

e.guigal cote rôtie la mouline 1998 (stunning!!!)

j.l. chave hermitage 2005

p.jaboulet hermitage la chappelle 1983

 

united states:

abreu cabernet sauvignon madrona ranch 2001

harlan estate red 1998

sine qua non syrah atlantis fe 203 1a

vega sicilia unico 1995

 

as for the auction the next day, i am told the atmosphere was not as electric as the one they held in may (in which they sold in excess of usd 10 million at prices that many later said they were crazy).  still, considering the economic climate, i found that the wines were moving quite well.  they sold 90% of the lots available reaching sales in excess of usd 6 million.

one of the most impressive sale of the day (this one in terms of total amount spent on 1 lot) was the "superman lot" which was an incredible collection of 10 consecutive vintages of romanée conti from 1990 to 2001 (144 bottles in total) and sold for usd 226,221.00 (that is usd 1,570 per bottle or usd 261 per glass).  then, there was the 12 bottle lot of screaming eagle cabernet sauvignon 1992 (impossible to find and an incredible opportunity for a serious collector) which sold for usd 92,544 (usd 7,712 per bottle and usd 1,285 per glass).

Published by jc on November 17, 2008

disappointing italian wine selection in hong kong

italian wine selection is becoming more and more appalling all over town.  yesterday at threesixty, a speciality food store in central, i was seriously disappointed that italian wines represented the smallest selection.  in fact, i have been noticing in the last 6-7 months that italian wines in hong kong are more and more ordinary and take less and less space on the shelves of food & wine shops around town.

i find this trend disturbing and, quite frankly, i only have the italian wine makers and italian trade bodies to blame for this.

yes, how many italian wine dinners have i heard of in the last 2-3 months?  none.  yet, the french and bordeaux in particular are all over town.  there is not 1 week that goes by without a presentation of some kind from a french wine makers, australians, new zealanders, and americans.  education is the most important marketing tool at this point time in this very immature market.  yet, no efforts seem to be spent by the italians.

are they taking the chinese market for granted?  do they think that brand "italia" will have enough power and strength so that consumers will simply flock to them in troves when the market will be mature enough ?  i do not think so.  italians wines are too complicated to pronounce for chinese people and the diversity of grapes, regions, and taste is just so much that there is really a lot of work to do.  the french are doing such a good job at this and, in doing so, shaping the taste of consumers that they are really locking in the market.  the work will just be harder to do later.

in fact, looking at sales figures in hong kong over the last few years, italian wines have seen a steady decline while just about every other wine regions of the world have seen increases with australia, chile, and of course france each with steep improvements.

why is it so? 

i think italy is making a mistake by not investing (or investing too little) in the chinese market.  they need to come here, organise wine dinners, tastings, and sponsor educational activities.  this is critical otherwise, they will certainly miss the wave of the future.

a pity and a shame.

Published by jc on October 31, 2008

the sense of smell in wine tasting

on several occasions on my journey to learn about wine and food, i have been amazed at how our crazy fast-paced life today has made us lose some of our senses. 

take the sense of smell for example.  it is said that more than 1000 aromas have been identified in wine.  now, that's a lot of aromas... of course, not all can be perceived as some are traces hardly detectable by the human nose, but quite a few can be and yet, we have a super hard time to pinpoint exactly what they are when the wines are served blind.

smell very much affect our sense of taste.  in fact, it seems that smell is key to tasting anything at all.  try this: pinch your nose, close your eyes, ask your wife/husband/boyfriend/girl-friend to serve you a purée of apple and a purée of peach (separately of course...).  my guess is that you will not taste the difference.  yet, when you "un-pinch" that nose of yours, miraculously, you will find the choice obvious. 

try this other exercise.  at the dinner table tonight, blindfold your wife/husband/boy-friend/girl-friend and (no, this is not rerun of the movie 9 1/2 weeks...), ask them to smell various ingredients on their plate.  chances are that words to describe them will be hard to come by.

and so, to practice my wine tasting (and smelling) skills, i just bought an aroma kit from le nez du vin.  the master kit consists of 54 various vials each containing essential oils with the various aromas that are typically found in whites or reds.  the kit comes together with a book and cue cards that explain each of those aromas.

maria and i were surprised, at first, how few aromas we were able to identify blindfolded.  mainly because words do not come naturally when it comes to describing aromas.  but, when we started to concentrate and carefully focus, words were flowing more easily and pictures of those aromas started to form in our mind.

the starting kit below has 6 essential aromas to get you going.  a great gift for those food lovers around you.  it also a fascinating discovery of how our sense of smell, all important it is to our enjoying wine and food, is so underused in these days and age of speed and instant gratification.

 

Published by jc on October 25, 2008

hong kong wine lovers on facebook

several months ago, dorotha introduced me to facebook.  the moment i registered i was hooked (see my profile here) and i created a group called hong kong wine lovers.  ever since, i have worked hard to build the membership so that members can share wine tips and inside information on the group's wall

a few weeks ago, a member, dominique chiarla, suggested we do more with the group.  so today, i am launching an experiment:  i am inviting group members to post their tasting notes on the group's wall.  i want to test winespeak.  my hope is that non-professional get to write their impressions about their wine experience in real language and not winespeak.  i want to listen to the voice of the people so that i can learn how non-wine-writers relate to wine. 

i hope this will help me prove a point that wine professionals in general are not necessarily in touch with the reality of wine on a day-to-day basis...  but then again, i might be wrong...

Published by jc on July 5, 2008

what are you? a sommelier? on being a wset student of wine

ever since maria offered me the christmas present of a WSET intermediate certificate in wine taught by the good people of vincrest in hong kong, people have been asking me: so what are you now?  a sommelier?  whatever i am now that i have gained a little wine knowledge, my friends inevitably always make me choose the wine in restaurants...

after passing through the different levels, i am now preparing for the last exam of my diploma which is the incredibly exhaustive unit 3 covering all light wines of the wine world - including romania, bulgaria and the like. it's a real killer, with an incredible amount of material to remember and a very high level of skills we must apply in tastings. 

once i complete this, i will have the competence to work in the wine industry.  as a sommelier?  not quite, however.  a wine educator? progressively.  a wine buyer? yes.  a marketing executive of a small winery, could be.  in charge of an on-line wine selling organisation? perhaps.  as a wine writer?  if i improve the quality of my english, maybe.  as a wine events coordinator? why not?

whatever, i have enjoyed every classes i have taken until now.  i find the wset curiculum to be well structured and more importantly well balanced.  it really gives the student a complete tour of the wine world focusing a good amount of time on all wine regions including those in south america, australia, usa as well as those all over of europe including central and eastern regions.  not only with the theory but also with the several tastings that we do in class. 

these tastings really opened up my mind to the wines of far away regions and uncommon grape varieties.  in fact, i now seek them and more often than not, i choose a wine based on the fact that i have never tasted a sample of a region or that i have barely heard from before anything else.  so beware good friends, next time you let me choose a wine, you may end up having to drink something utterly disgusting all for the sake of continuous education!

i understand that the wset certify at various levels over 44,000 students each year in over 39 countries around the world.  the courses are divided among the several levels and whether one is professional or an amateur, there is enough to satisfy everyone "thirst" for knowledge.  qualifications are:

- level 1 - foundation - a good introduction to the world of wine

- level 2 - intermediate - for those with a serious interest and want to broaden their knowledge

- level 3 - advanced - for in-depth knowledge and structured approach to tasting

- level 4 - diploma - for in-depth study of various issues of the wine trade including wine production and marketing and also to develop a specialist and structured tasting expertise. this level prepares students for the extremely rigorous master of wine certification and is a very good introduction to the wine mba offered by bordeaux university

- level 5 - honours - an in-depth research project on a specific issue related to the wine trade

progressively throughout each levels, the wset strongly emphasize the development of thorough tasting skills using their systematic approach to tasting, a method to assess quality of wine based on objective criterias.  i admit that, at times, i had my difficulties with the systematic approach as i found it too much devoid of "the poetry and passion" of tasting.  however, i have come to realise its power as wines are evaluated systematically and consistently leaving little room for subjective interpretation and allowing one to clearly identify the quality of a wine when compared to other wines and make an objective judgement - no matter if one likes the wine or not.

in hong kong, i have taken my classes with vincrest which is the only wine school in hong kong to offer the wset diploma.  taught by stephen mack who has been in hong kong for ever as far as an expatriate lifespan is concerned and he has taught wset courses for more than 15 years.  his knowledge is extremely complete and his method disciplined and focused. 

this certificate has opened my mind to a fantastic world where the passion and kindness of the people is wonderful and addictive.  in fact, i am so enthusiastic about it that i have started this blog and made wine become an important part of my life. 

until i pass the diploma:

 

Published by jc on May 10, 2008

hong kong import tax on wine abolished - controls are still in place

gregory de'eb who is in charge of crown wine cellars in hong kong has just sent me an email with a few tips related to the import wine duty that has been abolished today in hong kong , he says:

1- as of today, no duty paid on wine - included those held in bonded facilities

2- administrative controls remain in place until the month of may when legco is expected to pass the budget which means that although no duty will be paid, all documents and procedures are same as before, so if you plan to (as i will in april) bring back a lot of wine in your suitcase, you should still declare them at custom and if you have wines in bonded facilities or planning to import wine you still need to submit the paperwork

3- that tax can go up again when they present the budget in 2009 and so you should think ahead and benefit from this period of duty free to bring all of your wines into hong kong wherever you keep it.  the good people of crown cellars will help you transport and store it should you need it.

crown wine cellar is a wonderful facility in shouson hill where they offer wine storage services as well as rooms for wine related actitivities be they private enjoyment of your wine or larger events surrounded in a fine atmosphere.  recipient of the unesco asia-pacific award, it is located in the bunkers the british military used 70 years ago as a weapon and ammunition depot. being 20 meters deep into the ground with walls 2-meter thick, crown wine cellar has installed state of the art equipment for the finest storage of its kind.

Published by jc on February 27, 2008

hong kong abolishes import duty on wine & beer!

a fantastic news today.  thanks to a ''record budget surplus'', the hong kong government has decided to abolish the import tax on wine and beer.

already last year, it slashed the duty from 80% to 40%, starting today, it will be 0.

however, cynical has i am, i think this news is great mainly for distributors, restaurants and bar, which have not reduced wine prices by much after the first round of cuts.

in any case, let's hope that 0 duty will translate into higher quality offerings across the board and you can be sure that i will keep my eyes on this after a few months of ''inventory liquidation''.

for sure however, you can expect me to buy a 2nd suitcase and load it with wine when i return from vinitaly later this month.

cheers and 40 x cheers!

Published by jc on February 27, 2008

école du vin de bordeaux

back from bordeaux where i just completed an intensive week of courses to be an "accredited tutor", i return totally impressed by the quality, structure, and ambition of l'ecole du vin de bordeaux.

organised by the civb (conseil interprofessionel du vin de bordeaux), it's aim is to educate and dessiminate information about bordeaux wines. it offers several classes at their centre in bordeaux but, for me the interesting part is that the courses i attended will enable me to teach about bordeaux wines in asia using their curriculum, documents, and support.

i find this interesting not only because the courses are very well made and cover all aspects related to the wines of bordeaux but mainly because i find this to be a very clever way for bordeaux to propagate information about its wines around the world and, ultimately, influence consumers buying decisions.

how clever. researches have shown time and again that mainstream consumers today want ready to drink wines that are easy to understand and associate with. most prefer to select wines based on varietals and find bordeaux (and france in general) complicated with its thousands of chateaux, hundreds of appellations, and, god forbid, labels not showing "what's inside the bottle".

the courses this week were very well structured to give us a wide overview of bordeaux and break some preconceptions and attract our attention to little known appellations and styles of wines from bordeaux.

in fact, we spent a disporportionate amount of time on those little known wines and learned indeed that they present the most potential for the regions and are in fact among the most accessible to mainstream wine drinkers.

the area has 57 appellations and all kinds of classifications. and so to make it simple, they have grouped those in 6 families of wines according to styles:

1) bordeaux & bordeaux superieur red wines: the simplest and basic quality, from anywhere in bordeaux;

2) medoc & graves: dominated by cabernet sauvignon, from the "right bank" of the river garonne and the estuary gironde;

3) st-emilion/fronsac/pomerol: dominated by merlot, from the left bank of the river dordogne;

4) cotes: a group of 7 regions making similar styles of wines, also on the left bank of the dordogne and to the left of the estuary gironde;

5) dry whites: dominated by sauvignon and semillon, mainly from from graves & "entre deux mers", a region between the 2 rivers garonne & dordogne;

6) sweet whites: semillon dominated, mainly from sauterne & barsac and other small regions in the banks of the drodogne river.

after our first day reviewing appellations and other particularities of the bordeaux "terroir" (climate + geographie + man actions in vineyard & cellars), we spent the whole 2nd day visiting makers of cotes wines where we had interesting tastings of superb, value for money wines. on the 3rd day, we focused a whole morning on sauvignon grapes and tasted fantastic wines made with the grape. on the after-noon of that same day, we learned about and tasted sweet wines (which are divided in 2 groups: "moelleux", lightly sweet and perfect as apperitif and "liquoreux", much sweeter and complex, perect with fois gras and cheezes). on the 4th day, we visited 2 st-emilion makers and on the 5th, we had presentations in 3 medoc makers of which the largest proportion of our time was spent with a "crus bourgeois" maker where we also tasted 10 or so wines made from other "crus bourgeois" (a regroupment of makers who pull together to make wines of higher quality).

all in all, we clearly saw that the bordeaux region is pulling together to focus on quality and make sure the wolrd knows about its diversity, paricularity, and passion.

you can see my photo collection about this course on flickr by clicking on the photo below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i will teach bordeaux school of wine courses in hong kong and china.

Published by jc on January 20, 2008

prosecco in hong kong & china

on my way to india, i read an interesting article in the economist about the growth of prosecco (see the online version: fizzy or still?).   it reports that over the last 15 years, sales of the prosecco has doubled and they are now looking to expand in new countries around the world.

considering that champagne has experienced in 2007 the fastest growth of any wine categories in hong kong and china, the prosecco producers would be well advised to look to asia for their next marketing campaigns.

in fact, the refreshing and sharp floral aromas and flavours of prosecco have much potential here.  indeed i have found it complements the rich, tasty, intense flavours of the food better than the more delicate and bready champagne.  prosecco is also slightly sweeter which would be a better to a good that is generally saltier cuisine.

besides, each time i go to a blind sparkling wine tasting in hong kong, we are always asked to vote on which is our favourite among the asti, champagne, cava, australian sprakler and prosecco.  each time, prosecco comes out 1st or 2nd.  it's normal.  it's easy to drink, refreshing, pleasant, delicious and full of yummy aromas and flavours.

any campaign that will be worth it's ''salt'' should focus around food and how prosecco is perfect and easy to drink with friends and family - among the basic and most fundamental aspects of chinese socialising.

prosecco has a bright future here in asia.

 

 

Published by jc on December 23, 2007

china's wine market

two news pieces strucked me in the last week related to china.
the first from decanter magazine (12 dec 07 china set to move up in rankings of world wine consumers) and the second from the bbc (17 dec 07 china's economic muscle 'shrinks').
in the first piece, the good people of vinexpo informs us that the wine market in hong kong and china is about to grow 70% between 2006 and 2011.  considering that the market is quite small to begin with, a 70% increase as impressive as it looks, does not necessarily mean that it will be a very large market.
in the second article the bbc reports that the chinese economy might not be as big as we thought.  40% smaller in fact.  now, that is a large correction...
you may or may not beleive very much the statistics coming from the chinese government and i would not blame you, but you can not put aside so easily another piece of information that the article provides: ''china income (annual) averages $4,091 per person, while average income in the US is $41,000''.  now, that is not a great deal of disposable income available...
of all the years i have spent in hong kong, i have come across so many companies that focus solely on the 1st piece of statistics, namely that the market advances at a incredibly fast clip and huge numbers can be acheived.  these same companies forget, willingly or unwillingly the 2nd piece of information that most people in china do not have much money to spend on other goods than what is essential, namely lodging, food, transportation, and clothing.  whatever is left is spent on little trinkets to make a very drab life a little bit more colorful.
of course, look at shanghai, shenzhen, beijing, guanghzou.  all these cities have fantastic buildings, surging economies, fancy shops and restaurants, and a great many big spenders. however, these are flash and mirrors.  these do not represent the mass.  in china right now, 900 million people live on or below poverty levels while a tiny tiny part live on the same standards of we do in europe and america.
wealthy chinese today are interested in spending their cash on brands and whatever helps them make a statement.  if you plan to market wine in china, be aware of that.  without plenty of recognition & prestige, it is almost impossible to establish yourself profitably in china right now. 
so, let's put things in perspective shall we and let's not get carried away with the first sets of statistics.
hong kong and macau are another story however.  right now, hong kong is at a turning point.  it's economy is booming, it's people are more and more demanding related to service standards, fashion, and tastes.  restaurants, hotels, bars are mushrooming at a pace not seen ever.  hong kong is definitely a true cosmopolitan city and now establishing itself as a foodie capital of the world.  as for macau, already the largest gambling market in the world, all serious players from las vegas, melbourne, singapore are setting up shop in a big way.  not happy with gambling revenues only, sands is leading the way to re-position macau as a famly & business destination by offering versatile venues catering to all.  restaurants and bars are still lacking the world class appeal that hong kong has, but they are in their infancy and the potential is huge. 
so, if you want to market your wines in china, i think the right strategy is to focus on hong kong and macau.  both are seen as a window on the world and mainland chinese tourist come here in a huge number.  if they get hooked on what they have seen in hong kong, the glitz and prestige of the hong kong high life will rub and they will demand it back home.
step by step.

Published by jc on December 18, 2007

commanderie de bordeaux

l'altra notte in hk siamo stati alla cena annuale dei cavalieri del Bordeaux, abbiamo assaggiato all'incirca una quindicina di tipologie  di vini di tale regione ognuno portato dalle personi partecipanti all'evento. Non conoscendo il menu la conseguenza e' stata un non corretto abbinamento del vino con il cibo sopperito peraltro da una alta qualita' delle due cose.La piacevole compagnia ha contribuito peraltro al riuscimento delle serata ed in particolare la vivacita' del grandmaster Vincent t.k. cheung e' stata la classica ciliegina sulla torta.

Published by jc on December 15, 2007

2 very different wine buying experiences

this week was interesting related to my very young ''wine career''.  not only that franco is in town and it's for me a good reason to open some of my best bottles, but also because there are so many wine events in hong kong in the run-up to the holidays.

in particular, i had a delightfull wine buying experience yesterday at berry bros & rudd hong kong (bbr for the intimates). 

to be honest, i went with a little apprehension as i somehow thought they would receive me with a bit of attitude (after-all, i was wearing jeans and looked very much the student i was 20 years ago) and i also thought their selection would be limited to the very fine wines and would set me back several thousands. 

far from being true to my preconceptions, they completely shattered them.  firstly because the consultant who took care of me, mr. william chan, was very charming and very attentive to my needs.  he was very knowledgeable and did not at all try to over sell (or undersell for that matter) me anything - he was concerned to meet my requirements.  second because their selection is actually very wide and you can tell by their list that they are in fact concerned with quality.  no matter the price range. 

i am very satisfied with the experience and they certainly won me over to become a very regular client.

(you can click on each photo for a large version)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then, the not so delightful experience.

when i started this blog, i promised i would stay positive and only discuss good experiences.  however, as we say in french, every rule has an exception...

i went to the gosset champagne dinner at the fcc on monday with a fine wine personality who is also in the process of establishing her wine career here in hong kong.  she is actually vry well connected and involved with quite a bit of wine writing herself.

and so we tasted and ate, tasted and ate some more.  we listened to the presentation from their representative.  compared notes.  we then went over our ritual of taking pictures of the bottles we tasted that evening.  all the while, the representative was working the room, going from table to table, chit chatting and pushing the sale.  i could see that he did push the sale in just about every table.  he then reached ours.  looked at us.  smiled with the patronizing smile of a used car salesman.  obviously made a calculation and without a word, continued to the next table.

now, do i feel so insecure to describe the moment in this way?  i do not think so.  in fact, i asked my dinning partner if she say what i saw.  she did indeed she replied.

i was flabbergasted.  i was about to place an order for 6 bottles, 4 of them their most expensive served that night.  i lloked at the order form.  without a word, continued with my dessert without looking back.

really.  of all people who were attending the dinner on monday, our table was perhpas not a table to be so patronizing to.

and so it is...

Published by jc on December 13, 2007

would zonin be a champion of tom peters??

ever since i have started my wine studies with wset, i have had this thought that generally speaking wine is, let's be honest, generally poorly marketed.  think of france with their difficult labels to understand, left alone relate to, think about italian wines with their thousands of grapes which are not well understood by general consuemrs,  think of vintages, regions, red wines, white ines, fortified wines, sweet wines, sparkling wines, cheap wines, out of this world expensive wines.  this list goes on and on.

my chief concern these days is to find a ''formula'' that will be key to selling millions and millions of bottles of wine.  i am thinking about this days and nights, nights and days.

the other day, i was reading tom peters' book ''trends'' in which he reports that ''about 94% of all household purchases are decided by women''.  now that is a great many decisions.  that is also a lot of power women have in the choice of products that will show up on the table at dinner time.

yet, look at the way wine is marketed.  ask most women who are in the business, including award winning sommeliers and master of wine and they will tell you how patronizing most men are towards them when they talk about wine around them.  jancis robinson has written plenty of times about this in particular in this article linked here.

and so, it is in this context that i am now quite interested in how zonin is marketing their ''primo amore'' wine series at the moment.  at vinitaly china in shanghai last week, the back-drop of their stand was this huge poster from their marketing campaign that is obviously targeted at women: ''wine. it's all about love'' showing this ansome italian hunk.  my wife certainly noticed.  in fact she kept asking me to go and taste the wines...  here is the poster:

their PRIMO AMORE collection is well made, and i suspect could quickly become the ''vino della casa'' of more than one of my lady friends who are still single and like to have a glass or two at dinner each night.  even my wife asked the attendant at the booth where she could buy it in hong kong...

one of them is a red sangiovese + merlot, the other a white which is 100% pinot grigio, and the last one is a ''frizzante'' which garganega and moscato. 

as you can see, well selected grapes, all easy to drink, all pleasant, and all conducive to ''amore''. 

now, that is a campaign that seeks to establish an emotional bond with it's consumers.

might be a cliché for some, but certainly brilliant for me!

 

 

 

Published by jc on December 2, 2007

watson's grand tasting - hong kong 07 november 2007

The first impression alexandre had as we entered the marriot ballroom was "wow".  not because of the number of producers who were there to promote their wines (60), neither because of the quantity of wine that was on offer to taste (400) but because he was surprised with the number of people who were already there 40 minutes into the tasting.

alexandre is visiting from montreal where the wine culture has been firmly and steadily increasing in the last 2 decades.  he was right to be surprised as the wine culture here in hong kong is only really its in infancy.

 



of course you have heard of deep pockets who buy fine wine at astronomical prices and in large enough quantities to make you stop to contemplate.

what is relatively recent is the interest for wine shown by an increasingly curious middle-class who is experimenting with, and liking, foreign food and wine.



having spent 15 years already, i can certainly feel hong kong is about to explode in terms of food & wine development and i am extremely optimistic that tomorrow will be better than today.

last night's tasting was interesting in that it was organised by a single wholesaler (watson's wine cellars) and was so well supported by producers from just about every important wine regions of the world



if other distributors take heed to last night's success, i am certainly looking forward to great things to come!

 

Published by jc on November 10, 2007

wine alchemy - chinese style

the annual electronic fair is on right now in hong kong and visiting on saturday, i saw dozens and dozens of stands showing all kinds of wine cabinets and all kinds of wine gadgets in various shape or form.

a booth that particularily caught my attention was showing this machine that seemed to come straight out of frakenstein's lab: a transmogrifier of wine!

it claims to use a scientifically proven physical process to age the wine in the space of a few seconds or minute.  simply buy a young chateau petrus, say, insert it in the transmogrifier, type some specific year that you want to taste on the key board, turn on the switch, let is do its magic work, and, voilà!  perfect and ready to drink and you just saved 20-25 years of cellaring.

no kidding.  if anyone is interested, i can helo you contact the supplier and arrange a container to b delivered to your address within 60 days.

see the machine in person below:

 

Published by jc on October 14, 2007

not only a wine bar but the start of a revolution!!

in london last week, i took some time to visit the wonder bar in selfridges on oxford street.  i read about it in decanter magazine a few months back and ever since i have drooled all over this concept and so i had to see it for myself.

the bar is actually tucked in between their food court and wine shop and it revolves around their idea of a ''wine juke box'' which is actually the ''wine serving system'' developped by a company called enomatic.

for a price, you buy a ''wine card'' which is a smart card that you can replenish with funds as much as you like.  you then approach the ''juke box'' which is a long row of bottles placed inside the serving system, insert your card, select your wine and the size of the poor, put your glass under the spout and ''voilà'', you can help yourself to a very wide range of wines and they change the selection on a regular basis. 

the dispenser offers 3 sizes of pour: a sip, 1/2 glass, and a full glass. it's temperature controled and, thanks to a system of pipes and nitrogen, it keeps the wine fresh for weeks and weeks.

this is an absolutely fantastic way to go about and discover wine.  you can taste before you buy and in this way discover without fear that you will end up with some ''piquette'' that will scortch your palate at every sip.

i was told by the waiter that happy hours are absolutely packed with the london smart set who come there to taste and try and get pissed on good stuff so that they can wake up the next morning without the headaches and start the whole process again night after night. 

i was also told that they put a chateau petrus 1976 of which they sold so many they had to stop to keep some bottles for their regular well heeled patrons.  people were just curious to taste the legendary wine even if it set them back 32 pounds a sip...

and this is what keeps me awake at night!!   this system will totally democratize the wine world and finally make accessible the kinds of wines that some people can not afford a whole bottle or who simply can't drink a whole one because they are not part of some wine group, or that their spouse/friends do not drink.

this system could start a revolution: finally away with vinegar by the glass that they serve us all over hong kong (and most of the world!).

i tell you, this machine will revolutionise the way wine is sold and any serious wine shop which really cares about promoting wine and worth its grain of salt will jump on this.  what better way to encourage people to discover new wines and trade up? no i do not have a vested interest into enomatic other than hoping to see more and more such system installed so that i can finally enjoy wines by the glass.

i am seriously looking into it for hong kong and i have a super great concept in mind, anyone interested to invest in my project?

 

Published by jc on October 9, 2007