IT is the opinion of wine drinkers new to Hongkong that whenever they buy wine, whether it be in a bar, a restaurant or a supermarket, they are paying too much for this simple pleasure.
To prove that point, a drinkable bottle of wine bought from a wine shop in the UK now costs about $34.50 (GBP3). In the US and Canada, it might be a little higher at $40 (US$5.50), as would wine bought from other New World winemakers in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America.
Even in France, where the price of all wine is controlled and generally believed to be excessive, the average wine drinker fares better than his counterpart in Hongkong. European vin de table (the cheapest style of house wine in Europe) retails for between $25 to $35 per bottle while a bottle of mid-range quality wine can be bought for between $60 to $80.
Compare this with the experience of the wine drinker in Hongkong, particularly if the weekly budget is modest, and the result is odious indeed. Passable wine in a price range comparable to the above mentioned countries is impossible to purchase. And, it is more than likely it would be avoided like the plague if it was available.
Any kind of wine, even the sort that strips the membranes from a drinker's tonsils, has to cost more than $50 in today's inflation-infected Hongkong.
It's a sorry state of affairs, especially when the changing habits of Hongkong's consumers are taken into account. During the last four years, consumption of the bedrock earners of the liquor importers, brandy, cognac, and to a lesser degree, premium, mixed blend and single malt whiskies, have fallen by 14 per cent.