Comments on: An Englishman in Hong Kong

By: Adam Bilbey

Adam Bilbey — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:12:05 +0000

Hello Robert,

I must apologise for not responding sooner, but it’s been Chinese New Year here! These are all interesting questions and I spoke with Nick Pegna (our Managing Director here in Hong Kong) about them – here is what he had to say in response:

1) It is very difficult to say, particularly because so many fine wines destined for China go through Hong Kong, many of them stopping here and many of them passing on to mainland China. Our indication, which comes most clearly from our own business, is that 35% to 40% of our total business in Hong Kong comes from Mainland China. The potential of the mainland Chinese market is huge but at present Hong Kong has the largest amount of buyers of fine wines in the world – many of those are Mainland Chinese buyers who chose to buy through Hong Kong for convenience and security. The short answer is that nobody knows the full scale of the fine wine market in China, but everyone can recognise its potential.

2) Buyers in Hong Kong and China are well versed in the ways of En Primeur and are especially enthusiastic about buying Bordeaux and Burgundy wines through this system.

Many merchants and commentators feel that En Primeur is too ‘theoretical’ or not real enough for people to be involved in from as far afield as Hong Kong and China. However we’ve found that those who buy a lot of wine from us to drink are also happy to buy wines to lay down, including through the En Primeur system.

Judging by our experience over the last 11 years, Hong Kong and China have proven to be great En Primeur markets, but obviously there are still many people here who are not yet fully aware of the process.

3) A brand is very important in Hong Kong and China, but as we have seen with the dominant Ch. Lafite, vintage is also becoming part of the image that people perceive. For example, one could say that 1982 is a brand in itself, just as 2005 arguably is. There is generally a good understanding in the Hong Kong market for which vintages people should follow and also which vintages are not as sought-after, and therefore represent good value. Collectors in Asia are very hungry for information and we are asked to call upon our experience as wine merchants regularly to help people to make decisions on which wines to buy. Eight is lucky number in Cantonese and nine is meaning long life in Cantonese, so these factors may have an effect.

4) There are a number of producers following on in popularity from Ch. Lafite. Recently there has been a particular focus on Ch. Mouton-Rothschild, as well as on Ch. Margaux. Prices of Ch. Haut-Brion are also becoming increasingly attractive. My bet would be that Mouton or Latour will be seen as the next top producers and will have a consistent following for many, many years – I can’t see why it couldn’t be both. I take the view that people who have been drinking Lafite will diversify to more than just one or two other producers. Hopefully they will branch out and discover the other top wines in Bordeaux and take full advantage of the exciting wine is available in the fine wine market.

I hope this answers some of your questions,
Adam

By: robert

robert — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:29:01 +0000

Writing from London, I’ve four big questions about the Hong Kong market.
a. how big is Hong Kong relative to mainland China in terms of wine consumption? We hear that the Chinese market is growing all the time, but then someone has also written there are only about 300 buyers of fine wine in the whole of mainland China. And I’m guessing there are more than 300 in Hong Kong alone. Which is true? Or are both true?
b. how much are Hong Kong/ Chinese buyers into “primeur”. We hear that they don’t like it very much and yet that seems to have changed in the last 18 months for Lafite at least. What’s the story from your perspective?
c. how big is ‘brand’ over vintage? If people are concerned with having Lafite on the label, then is it the case that they don’t care so much whether it’s the 2004 or the 2005. In which case, as the market grows, we’ll see a narrowing of price differential between the top vintages and the rest. Or are they “into” particular vintages, just with the rest of the world? And are these years the same as for Europe/ America? e.g. Does the ‘luckiness’ of 2008 trump the quality of 2005? And is 2009 lucky?
d. what is moving next after Lafite? The consensus seems to be that it really matters if you’re a 1st growth: but is, say, Margaux actually more significant to them than Cos d’estournel? And there’s a debate between whether Mouton or Latour will ‘move’ next. What do you think is currently ‘hotter’?

By: Adam Bilbey

Adam Bilbey — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:53:03 +0000

Thanks for your comments, I’ll look forward to updating the blog regularly and finding out what Hong Kong is all about.

Peter-I shall e-mail you through some info on our tasting events.

By: Peter Lam

Peter Lam — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:45:41 +0000

Great post. I recently relocated to HK too. I feel the same way as you do. I am sure we will all benefit from a little training. People here drink only wines from Bordeaux , they don’t seems to have the idea of matching wines with food. I think drinking expensive wines from Bordeaux give them “face” instead of truely appreciating the wines. Anyway, hope to meet you in person in HK. Keep me posted if there are any wine tasting or training from BBR HK! My email is peterlam268@mac.com

(I am a member of the BBR cellar plan in London)

By: Glenn Dunster

Glenn Dunster — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:38:11 +0000

You’re spot-on about the preoccupation here with Bordeaux. I was chatting to the manager of a relatively new wine shop the other day, who told me that if two wines were equally priced, customers always opted for Bordeaux “because it’s more famous”.

By: Leon

Leon — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:43:57 +0000

Good luck Adam – keep us posted…