Hong Kong is about to pop the cork on the world's biggest wine and spirits expo amid explosive growth in the increasingly sophisticated and lucrative mainland market.
As the city aims to further cement its position as Asia's wine hub with the opening of Vinexpo Asia-Pacific 2012 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on Tuesday, eyes are increasingly turning northwards.
Mainland wine entrepreneurs, traders and those who simply enjoy a tipple are expected to swell the ranks of visitors at the showpiece annual event, which is staged in Bordeaux and Hong Kong in alternate years. Popular wisdom used to pigeon-hole mainland wine drinkers as uncultured, but that's a label one of the biggest exporters of wine to China says is rapidly becoming outdated.
'In tier one cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing you're seeing more of a Western wine-drinking influence. It's definitely more evident when you visit those markets,' said Lucy Anderson, the Asia director for Wine Australia, a statutory body that helps market the industry's output.
'The rise in educated wine drinkers over recent years has been clear to us and this will be proven by the large number of mainlanders attending the Vinexpo. There has been a shift in people's knowledge, which has increased exponentially.'
The mainland and Hong Kong combined represent the third-largest export market for Australian wine by value, selling more than A$268 million (HK$2.03 billion) worth and almost 50 million litres.
Visitors to the show - industry professionals, and wine and spirits buyers - are expected to break the attendance record of 12,617 at the last Vinexpo in Hong Kong in 2010. With a record 1,050 exhibitors from 28 countries, organisers predict the three-day trade show will attract more than 14,000 wine buyers from across Asia. The event was booked out six months in advance and exhibition space has been expanded by nearly 25 per cent to 10,500 square metres.