As an established Hong Kong-founded independent distributor of wine, Jebsen Fine Wines (JFW) is well placed to comment on the usefulness of Vinexpo Asia-Pacific for the wine industry.
'We work with 140 partners [wineries] and 20 will be here at Vinexpo,' says director Gavin Jones. 'Getting together en masse helps us to understand how we are operating in Hong Kong and [the mainland].'
Jones says that Hong Kong is the best location for Vinexpo Asia-Pacific because when it was hosted by Japan, it became too localised to the Japanese market. 'Hong Kong is also close to [the mainland], which gives everyone opportunities,' he says.
Hong Kong and the mainland have both seen wine import figures surge, so the task of distributing wine in pristine condition becomes more challenging. After Hong Kong eliminated duty on wine in 2008, net imports of wine jumped to 2.6 million cases the same year - up from 1.9 million in 2007 - and 2.9 million cases last year.
With such a volume comes the test of large-scale transportation and storage. Wine is sensitive to movement and climatic conditions. JFW ships well-packed bottles under temperature-controlled conditions to its professional storage facility in Hong Kong and uses its sister company, Jebsen Logistics, for delivery.
'The weather is still a challenge,' Jones says, 'and so is transport by road in a built-up environment.'
JFW's storage facility here has been awarded a Wine Storage Management certification from the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, after an onsite audit of its conditions and operating methods.