Booming wine market in China takes a star turn

BEIJING, Dec 20, 2011 (The Straits Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The stars look aligned for China's booming wine market to get even more glamorous.

In the past month, retired basketball star Yao Ming and top actress Zhao Wei have invested in bringing foreign wines to China, sparking media speculation that they will be the forerunners of a so-called "celebrity wine investment craze".

Other well-known names like Chinese actor Hu Bin and Internet tycoon Ding Lei have also put their money into booze businesses, recent media reports said.

"It's becoming quite common for famous personalities to invest in red wine. It's already quite widespread in foreign countries," said Mr Wen Han, general manager of Ease Scent, a Beijing-based wine training centre.

Hollywood celebrity wines have already been the rage for a few decades, perhaps starting with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

In the 1970s, he launched his own line of wines, which are sold in American grocery stores today.

Mariah Carey and Madonna previously announced signature blends, while a host of stars like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, British football player David Beckham and his wife Victoria all own vineyards.

Like these Hollywood stars, Chinese bigwigs are getting into this intoxicating investment because they want to be connoisseurs, and can afford pricey wine estates or businesses, say analysts.

"Investing in wine (for these stars) is primarily out of personal interest, as a hobby, while making some money on the side," said Mr Wen.

Indeed, Yao has shared with the media that his appreciation of wine started years ago, when he observed his National Basketball Association teammate Dikembe Mutombo swirling his glass with panache before savouring it at dinners.

Yao's interest prompted him to assemble a team of experts and sommeliers from Napa Valley in 2009 to create his own cabernet sauvignon and other blends, which he launched last month.

Zhao is said to be even more passionate about her drink. Her friends told Chinese media that she once downed an entire bottle of top-grade French wine in one night.

Last month, she indulged her hobby by buying a Chateau Monlot estate from the famous grape region of Bordeaux. She paid an estimated EUR4 million (US$5.2 million) to EUR5 million, French media said.

These celebrities can not only have their wine and drink it, but they can sell it too.

Cashing in on their fame in the lucrative Chinese market is easy, say analysts.

"Stars have so many fans, so they don't need to consider the issue of promoting (their wines). For them to enter the wine market will definitely not be a loss-making venture," Hong Kong International Wine Centre consultant Ceng Wei told China Wine News.

In the United States, celebrity wine sales were US$42 million in 2007, up 19 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Nielson Company's research.

In China, Zhao is said to be preparing to ship the existing Monlot vintages from her estate to China.

Yao has not revealed the sales of his 5,000-case debut, which is priced at 1,775 yuan (YS$280) a bottle.

But judging from a recent Special Olympics charity auction in Beijing, where a bottle of Yao's fetched 150,000 yuan, there seems to be quite a few interested buyers with deep pockets.

His other limited edition wines are believed to cost as much as 10,000 yuan a bottle, Hexun Net reported.

Such prices may reflect the burgeoning demand from China's status-conscious elite and nouveau riche.

"They are more than willing to splurge on branded or limited edition vintages -- the more expensive the better," independent wine consultant Jeffrey Zhao said.

"Giving the host a unique bottle of Yao Ming wine is special and would surely win a lot of face at a swanky party."

He noted that a Chinese bidder at a Hong Kong auction recently bought 30 bottles of Chateau Lafite Rothschild priced at almost US$18,000 each.