Huge opportunity for French wine to penetrate Chinese market

Wine consumption and collecting is increasing popular in China. It has even been reported that wine consumption in China has saved the French wine industry.

“It is a fact that Chinese wine lovers and collectors enjoy and appreciate the very best wines,” said Robert Sleigh, head of wine in Asia for Sotheby’s in an exclusive interview with MorningWhistle.

“However, a large number of French wines are more moderately priced and the penetration of wine consumption into wider China has just begun. So more time is still needed for the majority of people in China to learn and understand about wine.”

According to Mr. Sleigh, wine is a consumer good that can be enjoyed by everyone. However, it is only the top wines that are produced by the best vineyards and made using the best production techniques that can become collections worth investing in.

“The process of making a bottle of wine is just like creating a piece of artwork. Famous chateaux, using rare, high quality materials, and state of the art wine-making technology when they come together help create top wines for collecting and investment purposes” said Sleigh.

Sotheby’s will hold a two-day wine auction in Hong Kong on Dec. 7 and 8, offering a total of 915 lots. The top wines to be first sold on the two-day auction are expected to bring in a total of 24 to 35 million HK dollar (about $3 to 4.5 million).

All wines on offer were purchased on release in Europe and were professionally stored before being shipped directly to Hong Kong via dedicated temperature-controlled ocean freight under optimum conditions.

This collection will show that the very best of Bordeaux is at the heart of the matter. The instant idea that occurs is that this sale is made for amazing ‘vertical’ tastings, or more leisurely trips down the years over dinners.”

In fact, Sotheby’s began its wine auction in 2009 and holds about 8 auctions each year in Hong Kong. The auction in December will be the last of this year.