Wine fair to focus on China’s changing tastes
By 2012-5-21 17:44:57
The changing tastes of the
Chinese wine drinker are set to dominate conversations when the international
wine industry gathers in Hong Kong later this month for the Vinexpo Asia-Pacific
trade fair.
Vinexpo runs from May 29 to 31 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
and has attracted 1050 exhibitors from 28 countries.
Of the 15,000 visitors expected to attend the event, organisers claim around
9,500 will be China-based “wine and spirits importers, wholesalers, retailers,
duty free buyers and hotel and restaurant professionals.”
And they will be representing a market that is rapidly changing in terms of
intake and of taste.
“At the moment what you see in China’s wine consumption is that there are two
levels,” explains Simon Tam, the man responsible for developing the
international auction house Christie’s wine sales in Asia. “There are the wines
that are consumed domestically and then the wines that are consumed in hotels
and in restaurants. And the two are very different.”
Domestically, the majority of wine consumed in China remains locally-made reds
which Tam describes as “not very strong, and not very alcoholic” and retail for
around 25 to 85 yuan (RM11.95 to RM41.80). An example is the Qingdao Winery’s
Cabernet Gernischt dry red.
Then there are the wines consumed by China’s rising middle and wealthy classes,
which are predominantly French red wines from the Burgundy and Bordeaux regions
and can fetch prices as high as the HK$4.2 million paid at auction in Hong Kong
last year for a 300-bottle collection of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild — a record
for 2011.
But as more people in China drink wine — and the consumption per capita is
expected to double by the end of 2014 — Tam says that more tastes will become
varied.
“It’s an inevitable evolution rather than a change,” he says. “The Chinese wine
market hasn’t actually grown up yet but there is a kaleidoscope of wine coming
in now from all over the world so it is inevitable that tastes will change as
wine drinkers are exposed to more varieties.” — AFP-Relaxnews
Chinese wine drinker are set to dominate conversations when the international
wine industry gathers in Hong Kong later this month for the Vinexpo Asia-Pacific
trade fair.
Vinexpo runs from May 29 to 31 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
and has attracted 1050 exhibitors from 28 countries.
Of the 15,000 visitors expected to attend the event, organisers claim around
9,500 will be China-based “wine and spirits importers, wholesalers, retailers,
duty free buyers and hotel and restaurant professionals.”
And they will be representing a market that is rapidly changing in terms of
intake and of taste.
“At the moment what you see in China’s wine consumption is that there are two
levels,” explains Simon Tam, the man responsible for developing the
international auction house Christie’s wine sales in Asia. “There are the wines
that are consumed domestically and then the wines that are consumed in hotels
and in restaurants. And the two are very different.”
Domestically, the majority of wine consumed in China remains locally-made reds
which Tam describes as “not very strong, and not very alcoholic” and retail for
around 25 to 85 yuan (RM11.95 to RM41.80). An example is the Qingdao Winery’s
Cabernet Gernischt dry red.
Then there are the wines consumed by China’s rising middle and wealthy classes,
which are predominantly French red wines from the Burgundy and Bordeaux regions
and can fetch prices as high as the HK$4.2 million paid at auction in Hong Kong
last year for a 300-bottle collection of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild — a record
for 2011.
But as more people in China drink wine — and the consumption per capita is
expected to double by the end of 2014 — Tam says that more tastes will become
varied.
“It’s an inevitable evolution rather than a change,” he says. “The Chinese wine
market hasn’t actually grown up yet but there is a kaleidoscope of wine coming
in now from all over the world so it is inevitable that tastes will change as
wine drinkers are exposed to more varieties.” — AFP-Relaxnews
From AFP