Bottoms up! Largest ever Hong Kong wine festival hopes to boost city’s sagging tourism
The annual wine festival returns to Central promenade next month with a new whisky-tasting attraction in the face of a downturn in tourism across the city.
The city's annual wine festival returns "home" to Central next month and will boast whisky tasting as an additional attraction as it bounces back from a year away from its usual venue.
Running from October 22 to 25, this year's Wine and Dine Festival will be the biggest ever, with more than 340 stalls at the Central harbourfront event space, an increase of 30 per cent on the number of exhibitors last year.
But organiser the Tourism Board expects the number of visitors to fall by about 40,000, to 140,000 - largely due to the fact the event is not free as it was last year, when it moved to Kai Tak.
READ MORE: Wine and Dine Festival to move to Kai Tak due to Occupy Central protests
“We are delighted to stage the largest-ever event this year,” said Peter Lam, the board's chairman.
“There will be more new zones to present wines from more than 21 countries and regions and a wide range of food selection.”
Wines from more than 21 countries and regions will be on offer, along with a variety of food.
Country-themed zones will feature fine wines and delicacies from Bordeaux in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Spain and the United States.
In addition to wine offerings, there will be craft beer and whisky, including Japanese whisky, which has proved especially popular in the city in recent times.
"The admission fee was waived last year because of the relocation, but this is not the case any more," said board chairman Peter Lam Kin-ngok.
The event was forced to relocate last year due to the Occupy protests nearby. About 40 exhibitors withdrew, while other exhibitors and visitors complained about poor access to the site.
Adult admission is HK$30, with visitors able to buy passes that grant them various privileges for between HK$100 and HK$1,000. A HK$100 pass offers five classic wine tokens and a plastic glass.
One exhibitor, Dat's Wine, has prepared bottles of rare Japanese whisky for people to taste, including 21-year-old Hibiki Suntory Whisky and Yoichi Single Malt from 2000 for visitors to sample.
"Fine whisky should go to the stomach rather than sitting on the rack" said director Chris Lau.
Besides fine wine and whisky, exquisite feasts will be served in the tasting room. The Michelin-starred restaurants involved include France's Le Chapon Fin.
