Central Otago Vineyard strengthens Asian connections

Misha's Vineyard has further strengthened their presence across Asia with the appointment of four new distributors and the establishment of a Singapore warehouse in order to better the service the needs of their customers in this increasingly important region for premium New Zealand wine.

Misha’s Vineyard, located on an old gold-mining site on Bendigo Station, has Asian connections dating back to the 1860s when Cantonese gold miners came to find their fortune in the rich gold deposits on the land. Vineyard owners, Misha and Andy Wilkinson, also have their own Asian connection having lived in Singapore for the past 17 years. With their knowledge and understanding of the region, they decided before they had even planted the first vines that Asia would be a focus for their exports.

“We also discovered an uncanny occurrence of the number 8, a number which signifies good fortune and prosperity in Chinese culture” said Andy Wilkinson. “Our location on State Highway 8, just 8 kilometres from the town of Cromwell and on land that used to be called Sheep Run 238, is only just the beginning of the amazing occurrence of the number 8 on our vineyard.”

This story of the Chinese gold-mining and the occurrence of the number 8 prompted the iconic Marina Bay Sands, the world’s most expensive hotel and casino development located in Singapore, to request a special bottling of Misha’s Vineyard’s premium Pinot Noir with a unique “Lucky 8” label to be served exclusively at their ‘high rollers’ club as they believe the wine and the land from which it is grown is very auspicious.

The Wilkinsons decided that to service the requirements of customers such as Marina Bay Sands they would establish a warehouse facility in Singapore. “Having a warehouse in Asia means we can ensure the wines we’ve shipped to Singapore are in perfect condition and we can be very responsive to the needs of key customers” said Misha Wilkinson. “We’re also able to provide wines to our Singapore distributor and those from around the region within hours or days rather than the month it usually takes to ship wine from New Zealand.”

The new distributors across Asia appointed by Misha’s Vineyard include Crystal Wines in Singapore who are one of the republic’s most respected wine distribution companies. In Malaysia, Finlux will represent Misha’s Vineyard and in Vietnam, Fine Wines has been selected as the distribution partner. All of these distributors focus on the five-star hotel and premium restaurant sector within their markets.

The other new market for Misha’s Vineyard is China with the first shipment of wines just arriving into Shanghai. The range of wines will be distributed by Jebsen Fine Wines who already represent Misha’s Vineyard in Hong Kong. A division of Jebsen & Co Ltd, a family owned business of Danish origin established in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1895, the Jebsen Fine Wines division was set-up in 1990 and now has five offices across the Hong Kong and China and is positioned as one of the leading wine distributors in the region.

“Having 7 Asian markets is great but of course given our focus on lucky numbers, I’m working hard to increase that number to 8!” said Misha Wilkinson.