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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UK Overtakes France as Biggest Wine Exporter to Hong Kong

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!