Grape & Grain | How Hong Kong drinkers are turning to premium wines, halfway between simple and super-expensive bottles
The evolution of the city’s wine scene continues, with the advent of a new kind of aficionado happy to spend a little more and willing to try things from less common producers
Thirty years ago when I landed in Hong Kong, the city’s monolingual wine lists spoke only French; the idea of buying wines from California or Australia was unthinkable. Now, the world has shifted and a new breed of premium wine brands jostle for precious shelf space in our city.
Premium means different things to different folks. They are wines that offer something a bit special and sit in the sweet spot where affordability meets quality. Local importer Antonio Koo, managing director of Ponti International, says premium wines can be special varietal blends or single vineyard wines. “They capture the expressions and differences in terroir,” he says.
Hong Kong is now the United States’ third largest wine export market, behind the European Union and Canada. China is in fifth place, and rising. Christopher Beros, California Wine Institute trade director for China, says US wine exports to China (mostly from California) increased 11 per cent by volume in 2016, and more than 46 per cent by value; importers are spending more on premium wines to quench the thirst of an evolving consumer-driven wine scene. “As drinkers become more aware, they want to try more wines, and typically they tend to ‘trade up’,” Beros says.
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Kansas-based author and broadcaster Doug Frost, who bears the titles of Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, says “premiumisation” in the wine sector is a global trend – Asia included. “Just as no one expects to pay one dollar for coffee any longer, [wine drinkers] want something special and they’ll pay for it,” Frost says.
In Hong Kong, a growing group of “social drinkers”, made up of young couples and diners in their early 30s, are learning to appreciate fine wine as a lifestyle pursuit, says Anty Fung, general manager at Hip Cellar and AnOther Place by David Myers, a corkage-free, fine-dining concept in Tin Hau.
“There is definitely an upward trend for social drinkers towards more premium bottles,” she observes. “At around HK$500, they are a good halfway option between simple, quaffing wines and super-premium wines.”
Australia is another beneficiary of Asia’s increased wine spending. The value of Aussie wine exports to China grew 40 per cent in 2016, and the mainland is now the country’s top export market. Hiro Tejima, head of market for Asia-Pacific at industry group Wine Australia, says China buys premium labels that have established reputations, ratings or awards.