Bacchus in Hong Kong: Stellenbosch for Asia
By 2009-2-24 14:09:53
Some years ago I interviewed SA retail royalty Christo Wiese (of Pep
Stores and Shoprite-Checkers fame) and asked him how to sell SA wine
in the UK. "Someone should start The SA Wine Shop in St. James and
stock it with SA icons. I'd even be willing to part-fund it if my
wine was included." Canadian journalist Ross Meder had the same idea
and on June 1 2007 opened Margaret River for Asia, a boutique wine
retailer on St. Francis Street in Wanchai, central Hong Kong, across
the road from upscale French wine emporium les Q and a Chicken Pot
shop that sells chicken in a pot.
Wine Australia gives no support which does not best please Ross as
around the corner there's a Portuguese Wine Shop with substantial
support from the Portuguese Trade Commission. To see "value for
money" and "Margaret River" in the same sentence is unusual, but
Ross claims value is his USP and confirms that employees of a large
French bank in Wanchai shop at his establishment for this reason.
But then they are probably wine lovers. Not like the smart Chinese
gentleman who poked his head round the door shortly after the shop
opened and asked for the price of the most expensive bottle. When
told it was HK$380, he did not bother to enter. Ross confirms that
for many Chinese people "a real wine has to have a French label. But
things are changing. When I came to Hong Kong back in 1988, you'd go
out for dinner and be offered a tumbler full of Martell brandy or a
San Miguel beer. These days it's either a HK$40 bottle of
supermarket wine or Ch鈚eau Latour." Another problem is that his
Aussie wines are too cheap to be taken seriously by some collectors
while some customers still ask for Margaret.
Ross specializes in small family wineries and ended up in Margaret
River after a direct flight between Hong Kong and Perth was
introduced five years ago. A reformed journalist with the South
China Morning Post, he remembers the lights going out in the
newsroom and trays of chopped up suckling pigs being delivered on
8/8/88. After journalism he tried his hand at website development
and an initial Margaret River tourism website soon grew roots when
he bought a house from an elderly couple and opened his wine shop.
Initial offerings were restricted to Margaret River producers that
he sources and imports himself, helped by the removal of wine import
duties last February. To "get more depth on the bench" he has
recently included Balnaves Cabernet from Coonawarra and is looking
for a Pinot Noir from Tasmania. A Farmer's Leap Shiraz from
Padthaway is already in store "but I only let customers see its 15?
alcohol once they've bought a bottle."
On the question of the existence (or not) of an Asian Palate, Ross
thinks there is. "Ladies look for sweet fruity wines. We had a
sparkling Shiraz from Wise called Black Bead that flew off the
shelves. For men, fruit centric Cabernet fits the bill." Wise also
runs to a cheekily named brand called Half Wit.
Initially 90% of customers were western tourists ("the Brits love
us"), a mix that has settled down to 60:40 tourist:locals blend with
many of the Chinese customers educated in the West and thus willing
to try non-French brands. The success of Margaret River for Asia is
surely proof of the existence of a customer base to support a
Stellenbosch/Franschhoek/Constantia/fill-in-your-appellation-here
Wine Shop for the entrepreneur brave enough to take a chance on the
Chinese market that has seen imports increase 50% per annum for the
last several years. How about it Christo?
Stores and Shoprite-Checkers fame) and asked him how to sell SA wine
in the UK. "Someone should start The SA Wine Shop in St. James and
stock it with SA icons. I'd even be willing to part-fund it if my
wine was included." Canadian journalist Ross Meder had the same idea
and on June 1 2007 opened Margaret River for Asia, a boutique wine
retailer on St. Francis Street in Wanchai, central Hong Kong, across
the road from upscale French wine emporium les Q and a Chicken Pot
shop that sells chicken in a pot.
Wine Australia gives no support which does not best please Ross as
around the corner there's a Portuguese Wine Shop with substantial
support from the Portuguese Trade Commission. To see "value for
money" and "Margaret River" in the same sentence is unusual, but
Ross claims value is his USP and confirms that employees of a large
French bank in Wanchai shop at his establishment for this reason.
But then they are probably wine lovers. Not like the smart Chinese
gentleman who poked his head round the door shortly after the shop
opened and asked for the price of the most expensive bottle. When
told it was HK$380, he did not bother to enter. Ross confirms that
for many Chinese people "a real wine has to have a French label. But
things are changing. When I came to Hong Kong back in 1988, you'd go
out for dinner and be offered a tumbler full of Martell brandy or a
San Miguel beer. These days it's either a HK$40 bottle of
supermarket wine or Ch鈚eau Latour." Another problem is that his
Aussie wines are too cheap to be taken seriously by some collectors
while some customers still ask for Margaret.
Ross specializes in small family wineries and ended up in Margaret
River after a direct flight between Hong Kong and Perth was
introduced five years ago. A reformed journalist with the South
China Morning Post, he remembers the lights going out in the
newsroom and trays of chopped up suckling pigs being delivered on
8/8/88. After journalism he tried his hand at website development
and an initial Margaret River tourism website soon grew roots when
he bought a house from an elderly couple and opened his wine shop.
Initial offerings were restricted to Margaret River producers that
he sources and imports himself, helped by the removal of wine import
duties last February. To "get more depth on the bench" he has
recently included Balnaves Cabernet from Coonawarra and is looking
for a Pinot Noir from Tasmania. A Farmer's Leap Shiraz from
Padthaway is already in store "but I only let customers see its 15?
alcohol once they've bought a bottle."
On the question of the existence (or not) of an Asian Palate, Ross
thinks there is. "Ladies look for sweet fruity wines. We had a
sparkling Shiraz from Wise called Black Bead that flew off the
shelves. For men, fruit centric Cabernet fits the bill." Wise also
runs to a cheekily named brand called Half Wit.
Initially 90% of customers were western tourists ("the Brits love
us"), a mix that has settled down to 60:40 tourist:locals blend with
many of the Chinese customers educated in the West and thus willing
to try non-French brands. The success of Margaret River for Asia is
surely proof of the existence of a customer base to support a
Stellenbosch/Franschhoek/Constantia/fill-in-your-appellation-here
Wine Shop for the entrepreneur brave enough to take a chance on the
Chinese market that has seen imports increase 50% per annum for the
last several years. How about it Christo?
From wines-info.com