The 8th Estate: Hong Kong’s Very First Winery

Winebuzz.hk tours Hong Kong’s very own winery.

Opened in 2007, 8th Estate is Hong Kong’s first winery producing wine from grapes shipped frozen from other countries and made in Hong Kong.

We recently caught up with 8th Estate owner, Canadian Lysanne Tusar and 8th Estate’s master winemaker, Edward McDougall, as they were preparing to release their second batch of wine.

The winery is located in Ap Lei Chau, and unlike any winery anywhere else in the world, the grapes fermentation, aging and blending takes place in a high-rise warehouse 30 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the densely populated city of Hong Kong.

The winery is fully equipped with stainless steel fermenting tanks, pneumatic grape pressing machine and oak barrels to store and age wine.

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Hong Kong Wine Economy on the Rise

Let’s count the wine money coming into Hong Kong.

There’s nothing wrong with Hong Kong’s wine economy – in fact, it’s soaring! In the first nine months of 2009, HK$2.71 billion in revenue was brought in, representing a huge jump of 41% from 2008. The sales totals from fourteen wine auctions in the past year have reached HK$496 million. With numbers like this, Hong Kong could become the world’s second-largest market for wine auctions.

Famous auction houses like Christie’s International and Sotherby’s are definitely interested in Hong Kong’s wine market. Christie’s has noticed a demand for the highest-quality wines in the city, and Sotheby’s reports that Hong Kong has moved past London to become their second-biggest market. Many wine-centric businesses in the city have been upgrading and expanding to meet the huge demand.

The Hong Kong government is highly supportive of the growth in the wine market, lessening duties on imports to enrich the growing economy. Rita Lau said the government is helping the industry develop, in partnership with the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, a certification scheme whereby wine storage facilities meeting certain required standards will be accredited.

“The scheme is expected to be launched before the end of the year. It will first cover wine storage facilities, with possible extension to other logistics facilities such as vehicles later,” Mrs Lau said, adding that the government is working on various fronts to enhance the further development of Hong Kong as a regional hub for wine trading and distribution.

Read more:

• China Daily
• Bloomberg

Wine 101: How to Read A Wine Label

Learn what you need to know when reading your next wine label.

Whether you know it or not, there’s a lot of information on every single wine label.

From that little piece of paper alone, you can learn many things about what you’re about to drink. Many wines, for instance, will have an Appellation d’Origine Controlee, which shows the region where the wine was made. Often, not just the name of the winery but the name of the wine seller (or champagne house) will also be displayed. This begins to tell the story of the wine, and every vintage tells its own tale.

Decoding the information is important. Often, the wine label will say where the wine was bottled – if the work was done at the winery or an outside merchant, for instance. If the label does not specifically name where the bottling took place, it’s likely the work was done through a merchant.

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Soho Wine and Dine Carnival Gallery

This weekend if you were in SoHo you were at the Carnival.

This weekend in SoHo you couldn’t walk 2 feet without running into the Wine and Dine Carnival. Its great that SoHo can shut down the traffic like this for a weekend so you everyone can enjoy a really cool street vibe. The Venetian Macao brought over street performers, kids were doing street art, magicians, singers, musicians and many street booths selling different kinds of arts and crafts.

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