Starting this month, we will feature Expert Wine Picks to help you, wine lovers discover great wines to enjoy in Hong Kong.
Anthony Petit, wine educator and Faculty Master picks a Bordeaux wine: Chateau de Saye. This bottle of wine is made from carefully selected and hand-picked grapes by winemaker Alain Laubie in his 30 year old vineyard near St Ciers d’Abzac, 15 km north of Libourne on the Bordeaux right bank.
It is sometimes difficult to find good value Bordeaux wines in Hong Kong, Chateau de Saye provides balance and complexity at a reasonable price, says Mr.Petit. With its pale and bright ruby core and its dark pink rim, this wine is a blissful attack on the senses with its interesting aromas of cedarwood and roasted coffee beans. There are also fruity notes of plum and blackcurrant with just a hint of vanilla.
Get ready for a 3-day wine extravaganza in Hong Kong.
If you attended the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair last year, you know the event enjoyed a very successful debut, attracting 240 exhibitors and more than 8,700 trade visitors. Not surprisingly, the fair is coming back for a second round, which will take place from November 4 – 6 with France as the Partner Country. And its almost doubled in size from last year with an estimated 450 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions will be attending, so you should have more than enough to keep you busy!
Organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and hosted at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, the fair will showcase exhibits of wine, spirits, and beer, as well as many products, equipment, and services associated with wine production. A French pavilion showcasing many different wines – such as Burgundy, St. Emilion, Alsace, Bordeaux, and Lyon – will be featured at the fair, and group pavilions many countries from all over the world will also be featured.
In addition, the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Competition will be introduced in partnership with the International Wine and Spirit Competition based in London. “Best Wine” awards will be given for countries such as China, Japan, India, and Thailand.
If you are an international or local buyer, if you register online before October 29th you can gain free entry to the entire show. For more information about the fair, exhibitors, and registration, you can visit their website at http://hkwinefair.hktdc.com and have a look at the photo gallery and video from last years event. Winebuzz.hk will be bringing you more insight into the show as we lead up to the big event.
London sells more French wine to Hong Kong than France does!
Import duties have been abolished and the UK has officially overtaken France as the biggest wine exporter to Hong Kong. This news has surprised a few, but that doesn’t mean Hong Kong has lost its signature taste for fine French wines.
The twist? London is actually a major hub of fine French Wine – and no one would deny Hong Kong’s appetite for Bordeaux. So, despite the fact that the UK is not a major wine-producing region, Hong Kong imports from Britain showed a huge annual increase during the first seven months of 2009:
Imports from Britain showed an annual 146% increase during the first seven months of 2009 to almost US$80 million from Jan-Jul 2009, which was around US 69.5 million for the whole of 2008. UK has increased its share of this wine market from 20% to 33%, while France’s has slipped from over 35% to 31.6% at around US $72 million for the comparable period. The fine, expensive French wines are exported from the UK, explaining the phenomenal increase in dollar value.
Australia, in third place this year, has an 8.7% share totalling US$ 21 million followed by the US, Chile, Switzerland and Italy.
What’s responsible for the steep increase? Abolishing import duties made the fine of course, expensive French wines we love so much coming to Hong Kong duty-free. We call that cause for celebration: let’s make a toast with our favorite Bordeaux – to fatter wallets!
Suggestions for the best wine to go with your mooncakes.
Autumn is upon us and there is no better way to celebrate the harvest then mooncake. Berry Bros & Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine distributor (and one of the few wine merchants who can boast about trading from the same shop in London for over 300 years), has come up with 5 of their wines to pair with your mooncake this fall.
Traditional mooncake is dense and sweet and should be paried with full-bodied, sweet wines such as Sauternes, Sherries, ports and sweeter varieties of Champagne. Try one of the following wines ranging from HK$139-HK$1,368.
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