Recent years have seen a boom in wine education worldwide, and particularly in Asia. Some of the region's leading providers of services are exhibiting at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair.
These exhibitors offer classes ranging from introductions to the basics of wine, to advanced courses leading to qualifications awarded by the British-based Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), the most widely recognised examining authority.
Some are fully fledged educational institutions and run their courses independently of wine suppliers. Others are wine merchants who run courses as an extra service to customers.
AWSEC offers WSET courses up to diploma level - a two-year course which no other wine education supplier in Hong Kong is authorised to teach.
Courses in Hong Kong are offered in English, Cantonese and Putonghua, and AWSEC has expanded its operations to offer courses on the mainland and in Russia, India, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The WSET is also an exhibitor. The organisation has qualifications available in 55 countries and taught in 16 languages.