Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, November 2009

Following its successful debut in 2008, the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair returns in a new time slot in 2009 - 4 to 6 November - with France as its Partner Country. The 2009 edition welcomes some important new exhibiting organisations and incorporates a number of new features.

“More than 480 exhibitors from an over 30 countries & regions will participate in the fair this year , including exhibitors from Argentina, Australia, the Chinese mainland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Moldova, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Slovenia, Uruguay and United States, etc.

This is a strong result, reflecting the productive trading of the first event, which featured 240 exhibitors and was visited by 8,758 trade buyers from 55 countries and regions ,” said Mr. Raymond Yip, Assistant Executive Director of Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), which is organising the event.

Exhibits at the fair include wine , spirits, beer and other beverages, products and services related to wine production and logistics, accessories and equipment. Wine education, wine tourism and wine investment are also represented. “

An increasing number of market leaders are choosing the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair as their trading hub in Asia ,” Mr. Yip added. Among the Hong Kong exhibitors are important distributors such as Jebsen, Maxxium and Moet Hennessy Diageo. China’s famous Dynasty brand wines appear at the fair courtesy of Jebsen, the brand’s Hong Kong agent. In addition, the three leading distributors from the Chinese mainland - ASC, Jointek and Summergate - will be present.

As France is the Partner Country, there will be a French pavilion coordinated by Sopexa, the marketing arm of France’s Ministry of Agriculture . Bettane & Desseauve will make an impact with a grand tasting pavilion. Wines from Burgundy, St. Emilion, Alsace, Bordeaux and Lyon will be featured in the fair.

Of special note is the participation of Asia Bottling Company, very recently established as the first Hong Kong company which is bottling wine locally.

An important highlight of the fair is the introduction of the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition, run in partnership with the prestigious London-based International Wine & Spirit Competition. It attracted more than 1,000 entries and becomes the Asia’s largest Wine Competition. This has generated so much interest that 13 more categories were recently added by the organisers. As well as the original ‘Best Wine Produced in China’ category, there are now Best Wine awards for Japan, India and Thailand.  

The Regional series of awards has been extended and two Best Value award categories have been added to recognise Best White Wine in Hong Kong below HK$150, and Best Red Wine in Hong Kong below HK$200.

A voting game associated with the fair will select ‘The Most Beloved Wine’ and there will be a competition for ‘The Most Appealing Wine Label for the Mainland Market’. Wine-tasting sessions and wine master classes, wine auctions as well as seminars and the Wine Industry Conference support the thirst for deeper knowledge and participation among wine professionals.

The public is invited to visit the fair on its final day, giving consumers the chance to taste wines, browse in the educational Wine Gallery and interact with winemakers. Hong Kong has the highest consumption of wine per capita in Asia so public interest is high.