How three Hongkongers turned their passion for wine into a business
- Wines from Calla Lily, a Napa Valley winery owned by three Hong Kong friends, stay true to their roots
When three wine-loving Hongkongers joined forces to turn their passion into a business, they took a pragmatic approach.
Anthony Fung Kar-hey, one of the investors and managing director of the winery, says, “We looked at opportunities in Europe, such as Bordeaux, in France, and Spain. However, the vineyards that were available were either poorly run or maintained, or beyond our budget.”
In the end, their work experience in the United States and knowledge of Napa Valley wines took them to California. In Pope Valley, in northern Napa county, Fung and his partners, who prefer to remain anonymous, acquired a 48-hectare property and vineyard.
The trio named their winery, which they founded in 2010, Calla Lily, to symbolise the wines’ “elegance, beauty and purity”, Fung says. “We want the Napa character to shine through but we also need to work carefully to avoid jamminess and too much alcoholic strength.”
Cary Gott, with more than 40 years’ experience at Sterling Vineyards, Seagram Classics and Mumm Napa, was brought on board as chief winemaker.