How is wine performing during the weak economic climate? Are consumers still trading up? According to Nielsen’s food, drug and liquor scan data, wine and even high-end wine is still growing but at a much slower rate. To get an idea of the difference, we took a look at Nielsen data in the period to April 5, 2008 and April 7, 2007.
OVERALL TABLE WINE. Table wine continued to post growth in the four weeks to April 5 but at a slower rate than the 52 week period to April 5. Table wine dollar sales grew 4.7% in the four weeks, but were up 5.4% for the year.
In terms of volume, the four week period saw growth of 1.5% while volume jumped 2.2% in the 52 weeks. It takes longer for trends to show up in 52-week data, while four-week numbers tend to reflect current trends. Case in point? Growth of wine in the U.S. is stalling and isn’t showing signs of turning around (yet).
Let’s take a look at the same period last year. In the four weeks to April 7, 2007, dollar sales jumped 11.1%. In the 52 weeks to April 7, 2007, dollar sales grew 6.9%. Volume increased a whopping 7% for the month and 2.9% for the year to April 2007. Volume growth of table wine in 2007 was almost five times more than in 2008.
TRADING UP. High-end wines reached a new record of growth in 2007. Since then, the rate of growth has slowed. It turns out that consumers are still trading up, just not as much as they were last year.
Higher-priced wines continued to post growth in April 2008, but at a much slower rate than in April 2007. In the four weeks to April 2008, dollar sales and volume of wines priced $15 and above rose 8.1%. Wines priced $12-14.99 saw sales climb 7.8% and volume rise 5.5%. Meanwhile, wines in the $9-11.99 range increased 7.5% in dollar sales and 5.3% in volume.
Dollar sales of wines prices $6-8.99 grew 1.9%, followed by $3-5.99 (3.7%) and $0-2.99 (1.2%). Volume of wines prices $6-8.99 grew 0.6%, followed by $3-5.99 (1.5%) and $0-2.99 (-0.6%).
The difference between 2008 and 2007 is vast. In the four weeks to April 2007, the $15 and up category grew 26.9% in value and 26.3% in volume. Dollar sales of wines prices $12-14.99 grew 20.3%, while volume jumped 20.1%. Wines in the $9-11.99 range rose 15.1% in value and 14.4% in volume.
All of the lower priced wines grew faster in 2007 as well, aside from the $0-2.99 price segment. Dollar sales of the $6-8.99 category rose 8%, followed by $3-5.99 (7.8%) and $0-2.99 (0.3%). Volume of wines priced $6-8.99 grew 9.2%, followed by $3-5.99 (7.3%) and $0-2.99 (0.2%).
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Grape vines take root in modern China
Despite a 4,600-year wine history, booming nation is just discovering good vino
BEIJING - The history of Chinese grape wine dates back more than 4,600 years. But if you are in the country during this Olympic year, I suggest you drink beer.
Back last week from a three-week sojourn through China, I discovered there are only a couple of wines approaching entry-level international standards.
There is no question China will eventually produce some world-class winners. The country has the climate, the soil and the will-power to rival the world's top wine-producing regions. And international expertise is arriving with state-of-the equipment.
But the wine industry has not kept up with the quality strides made in other industries, from manufacturers of high-tech equipment to leather goods to clothing.
One reason China is behind most of the world's best wine-producing regions in quality is that many of its 1.3 billion people haven't been able to afford such a luxury drink. Just getting enough food to stay alive during famines can be a huge endeavour. It's a rather sad situation given the country's long history of winemaking -- in 1995, Chinese and American archeologists discovered remnants of alcoholic beverages, including grape, mead and several mixed beverages, that dated back some 4,600 years.
Another handicap was that Chinese grapes, for centuries, were of inferior quality compared to those cultivated around the Mediterranean and later in Europe. Consequently, wine didn't enjoy the same popularity in China as in other parts of the world. Then, during the Han Dynasty, following a gentleman by the name of Zhang Qian's exploration of the country's western region in the second century BC, high-quality grapes were introduced.
Fast forward to 1989, just shortly after the Tiananmen Square massacre, I visited Beijing and befriended a local university student who was keen on wine. I was delighted one night when he rushed from a restaurant (with my cash) and returned with a pretty decent bottle of French-influenced Riesling.
French wine was the first foreign wine to be imported into China and in 1980, at the beginning of Chinese economic reform, Remy Martin arrived to set up some joint ventures.
I licked my lips recently at the thought of tasting 20 years of viticulture progress. Consider the progress the B.C. wine industry has made in that time.
But sadly, I was disappointed. For the most part, the same few brands are sold throughout the country. Only in top international hotels in such cities as Beijing and Shanghai could one find French, Australian and perhaps some Californian wine.
But who wants to drink wine so readily found at home? It was in ancient, cobble-streeted Lijiang, in the province of Yunnan and near the Burma border, that I sat down one night to sample wines found in most restaurants in the region. Some notes:
Dynasty Red Wine, $4. A quite quaffable wine made with French help. Dry, light and well-balanced, but the fruit was more faded-savoury than forward.
Yunnan Red Wine, $4. A local wine, drinkable if one has been stranded in the local mountains for about a year.
Great Wall Red Wine, $3.75. Found everywhere and selling to westerners on its novelty name. The wine tasted oxidized. But it's a "must-try" to say you have sampled Chinese wine.
Tibetan Dry Naked Barley Red Wine, $4.50. Caramel, dried figs and plums on a wine that deserved a second sip.
Lijiang Red, $3. Some licorice notes in this local wine what tasted like a cross between sherry and firewater.
Beer is the chosen beverage of most males. Some 90 per cent of the wine consumed domestically in China last year however was red. Drinking it has become a status symbol.
Some 80 per cent of vineyards produce red wine. It's the country's women who are driving a slowly growing white-wine market.
The Chinese have undoubtedly noted wine is a key export in some countries and within a decade I believe we will be sipping good Chinese wine.
That's just as well. The standard of living there is rising quickly and a more affluent population will no doubt seek a share of our favourite wines.
Nick Lees
BEIJING - The history of Chinese grape wine dates back more than 4,600 years. But if you are in the country during this Olympic year, I suggest you drink beer.
Back last week from a three-week sojourn through China, I discovered there are only a couple of wines approaching entry-level international standards.
There is no question China will eventually produce some world-class winners. The country has the climate, the soil and the will-power to rival the world's top wine-producing regions. And international expertise is arriving with state-of-the equipment.
But the wine industry has not kept up with the quality strides made in other industries, from manufacturers of high-tech equipment to leather goods to clothing.
One reason China is behind most of the world's best wine-producing regions in quality is that many of its 1.3 billion people haven't been able to afford such a luxury drink. Just getting enough food to stay alive during famines can be a huge endeavour. It's a rather sad situation given the country's long history of winemaking -- in 1995, Chinese and American archeologists discovered remnants of alcoholic beverages, including grape, mead and several mixed beverages, that dated back some 4,600 years.
Another handicap was that Chinese grapes, for centuries, were of inferior quality compared to those cultivated around the Mediterranean and later in Europe. Consequently, wine didn't enjoy the same popularity in China as in other parts of the world. Then, during the Han Dynasty, following a gentleman by the name of Zhang Qian's exploration of the country's western region in the second century BC, high-quality grapes were introduced.
Fast forward to 1989, just shortly after the Tiananmen Square massacre, I visited Beijing and befriended a local university student who was keen on wine. I was delighted one night when he rushed from a restaurant (with my cash) and returned with a pretty decent bottle of French-influenced Riesling.
French wine was the first foreign wine to be imported into China and in 1980, at the beginning of Chinese economic reform, Remy Martin arrived to set up some joint ventures.
I licked my lips recently at the thought of tasting 20 years of viticulture progress. Consider the progress the B.C. wine industry has made in that time.
But sadly, I was disappointed. For the most part, the same few brands are sold throughout the country. Only in top international hotels in such cities as Beijing and Shanghai could one find French, Australian and perhaps some Californian wine.
But who wants to drink wine so readily found at home? It was in ancient, cobble-streeted Lijiang, in the province of Yunnan and near the Burma border, that I sat down one night to sample wines found in most restaurants in the region. Some notes:
Dynasty Red Wine, $4. A quite quaffable wine made with French help. Dry, light and well-balanced, but the fruit was more faded-savoury than forward.
Yunnan Red Wine, $4. A local wine, drinkable if one has been stranded in the local mountains for about a year.
Great Wall Red Wine, $3.75. Found everywhere and selling to westerners on its novelty name. The wine tasted oxidized. But it's a "must-try" to say you have sampled Chinese wine.
Tibetan Dry Naked Barley Red Wine, $4.50. Caramel, dried figs and plums on a wine that deserved a second sip.
Lijiang Red, $3. Some licorice notes in this local wine what tasted like a cross between sherry and firewater.
Beer is the chosen beverage of most males. Some 90 per cent of the wine consumed domestically in China last year however was red. Drinking it has become a status symbol.
Some 80 per cent of vineyards produce red wine. It's the country's women who are driving a slowly growing white-wine market.
The Chinese have undoubtedly noted wine is a key export in some countries and within a decade I believe we will be sipping good Chinese wine.
That's just as well. The standard of living there is rising quickly and a more affluent population will no doubt seek a share of our favourite wines.
Nick Lees
Burgundy wine sales hit by rising euro
Sales of Burgundy wines have started to decline over the past few weeks with vintners blaming the rise in the euro against the dollar and the pound.
But winemakers in one of France's best-known wine regions are not feeling too anxious after two years of steep price rises on the back of demand that still far outstrips production.
"I believe that in the first quarter of this year we have had a decline of 4-5 percent in volume and a similar rise in prices," Frederic Dupray, head of economic studies for the Burgundy wine association, told Reuters on Tuesday.
"We had been expecting a decline in volume this year after two years of growth and in any case stocks are very low in Burgundy, so we are not in tears," he added.
Wine house Albert Bichot sounded a warning bell.
"After two years of strong growth in sales...Burgundy is experiencing the start of a slow down," it said in a note to clients. "The strength of the euro, the rise in prices for the 2007 harvest and a more glum sentiment at our clients are the cause of this," it said.
The single European currency used by France, Germany, Spain, Italy and several other EU countries has gained 16 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past 12 months.
Dupray said that sales to the United States were hit by the rise in the euro, while sales to the United Kingdom were hit by a decline in the pound as well as an economic situation in Britain, which he described as "not brilliant".
"In Britain there is less demand for the high-end Burgundy wines and more for the middle range," he said.
But demand from Russia and Asia is booming and many vintners from Burgundy and other French wine regions will be present at the Vinexpo trade fair in Hong Kong, from Tuesday until May 29.
"There is a lot of demand still but what we want in Burgundy is to get a hold on volumes and improve the price level," Dupray said.
Albert Bichot (http://www.bichot.com/) trades in Chablis, Cote De Beaune, Cote de Nuits, general Burgundy wines as well as the Beaujolais, Maconnais, Cotes du Rhone and Languedoc wines farther away from the central Burgundy area, roughly between Dijon and Beaune in central France.
Created in 1831 by Bernard Bichot, the family firm is now headed by Alberic Bichot.
It owns, among others, Domaine Long-Depaquit in Chablis and the Domaine du Clos Frantine in Vosne Romanee, a village that yields some of the most expensive Burgundy wines.
Burgundy wines are single grape wines, mainly Pinot Noir for the reds and Chardonnay or Aligote for the whites, and not blends such as Bordeaux.
The tastes of wines can differ widely from one mini-climate to the next in the myriad of villages and vineyards that stretch across Burgundy.
Marcel Michelson
But winemakers in one of France's best-known wine regions are not feeling too anxious after two years of steep price rises on the back of demand that still far outstrips production.
"I believe that in the first quarter of this year we have had a decline of 4-5 percent in volume and a similar rise in prices," Frederic Dupray, head of economic studies for the Burgundy wine association, told Reuters on Tuesday.
"We had been expecting a decline in volume this year after two years of growth and in any case stocks are very low in Burgundy, so we are not in tears," he added.
Wine house Albert Bichot sounded a warning bell.
"After two years of strong growth in sales...Burgundy is experiencing the start of a slow down," it said in a note to clients. "The strength of the euro, the rise in prices for the 2007 harvest and a more glum sentiment at our clients are the cause of this," it said.
The single European currency used by France, Germany, Spain, Italy and several other EU countries has gained 16 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past 12 months.
Dupray said that sales to the United States were hit by the rise in the euro, while sales to the United Kingdom were hit by a decline in the pound as well as an economic situation in Britain, which he described as "not brilliant".
"In Britain there is less demand for the high-end Burgundy wines and more for the middle range," he said.
But demand from Russia and Asia is booming and many vintners from Burgundy and other French wine regions will be present at the Vinexpo trade fair in Hong Kong, from Tuesday until May 29.
"There is a lot of demand still but what we want in Burgundy is to get a hold on volumes and improve the price level," Dupray said.
Albert Bichot (http://www.bichot.com/) trades in Chablis, Cote De Beaune, Cote de Nuits, general Burgundy wines as well as the Beaujolais, Maconnais, Cotes du Rhone and Languedoc wines farther away from the central Burgundy area, roughly between Dijon and Beaune in central France.
Created in 1831 by Bernard Bichot, the family firm is now headed by Alberic Bichot.
It owns, among others, Domaine Long-Depaquit in Chablis and the Domaine du Clos Frantine in Vosne Romanee, a village that yields some of the most expensive Burgundy wines.
Burgundy wines are single grape wines, mainly Pinot Noir for the reds and Chardonnay or Aligote for the whites, and not blends such as Bordeaux.
The tastes of wines can differ widely from one mini-climate to the next in the myriad of villages and vineyards that stretch across Burgundy.
Marcel Michelson
Wine held underwater to test cellar methods
French winegrowers have submerged 276 bottles of local drink deep in an artificial lake and will keep them there for decades to see how they differ from bottles stored above ground for the same period.
Every 20 years, 24 of the submerged wine bottles will brought to the surface to test how the wine has changed.
A dozen frogmen placed the bottles of Arbois wine, kept in wire crates, 60 metres below the surface among the ruins of a sunken 12th century abbey in Vouglans, in the Jura region of eastern France.
Built by monks of the order of Saint Bruno, the Chartreuse de Vaucluse was submerged in 1968, when France's electricity operator, EDF, created a huge dam and France's third largest lake.
Nestling within its walls, the wine will be kept at 4 degrees Celsius, with pressure at seven bars and between 4 to 8 mg of oxygen per litre.
Every 20 years, a crate of 24 bottles will brought to the surface to test how the wine has changed, in parallel with the normally conserved bottles, according to domain Henri Maire, which organised the operation.
Besides the wine, 12 bottles containing messages from "different personalities from the arts, media, the world of wine and gastronomy" were also laid to rest at the bottom as a testament to "future generations about our art of living today," said Henri Maire.
The Arbois appellation (which draws its name from the town of Arbois) is the heart of the Jura region. Located along the eastern border of France, it runs parallel to Burgundy and is not far from Switzerland.
Arbois whites are produced from Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc and its yellow wine from the obscure Savagnin variety. The reds contain Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard grapes.
The Henri Maire domain last year sent 20,000 bottles around the world as an experiment, while crates of its yellow wine are currently stored in the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, far inside the Arctic circle, in minus 40 degree temperatures.
Henri Maire himself started the craze for such tests in 1955 by walling in bottles of vin jaune in the bowels of the Tour d'Argent, one of Paris' most famous restaurants with a sumptuous wine cellar.
The bottles are due to be removed in 2055.
Henry Samuel
Every 20 years, 24 of the submerged wine bottles will brought to the surface to test how the wine has changed.
A dozen frogmen placed the bottles of Arbois wine, kept in wire crates, 60 metres below the surface among the ruins of a sunken 12th century abbey in Vouglans, in the Jura region of eastern France.
Built by monks of the order of Saint Bruno, the Chartreuse de Vaucluse was submerged in 1968, when France's electricity operator, EDF, created a huge dam and France's third largest lake.
Nestling within its walls, the wine will be kept at 4 degrees Celsius, with pressure at seven bars and between 4 to 8 mg of oxygen per litre.
Every 20 years, a crate of 24 bottles will brought to the surface to test how the wine has changed, in parallel with the normally conserved bottles, according to domain Henri Maire, which organised the operation.
Besides the wine, 12 bottles containing messages from "different personalities from the arts, media, the world of wine and gastronomy" were also laid to rest at the bottom as a testament to "future generations about our art of living today," said Henri Maire.
The Arbois appellation (which draws its name from the town of Arbois) is the heart of the Jura region. Located along the eastern border of France, it runs parallel to Burgundy and is not far from Switzerland.
Arbois whites are produced from Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc and its yellow wine from the obscure Savagnin variety. The reds contain Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard grapes.
The Henri Maire domain last year sent 20,000 bottles around the world as an experiment, while crates of its yellow wine are currently stored in the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, far inside the Arctic circle, in minus 40 degree temperatures.
Henri Maire himself started the craze for such tests in 1955 by walling in bottles of vin jaune in the bowels of the Tour d'Argent, one of Paris' most famous restaurants with a sumptuous wine cellar.
The bottles are due to be removed in 2055.
Henry Samuel
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Young and hip and seriously fine wines
In Mendoza, winemakers are breaking with tradition in a big way and using innovative techniques with their Malbecs.
As wines go, many find Argentine Malbecs die-hard traditional. Dry, oaky, full of musky tongue-curling tannins, and quick to stain your lips purple-red, they're built to wash down forkfuls of steak, not to sip.
But what's refreshing about Mendoza, Argentina's wine country a half-hour flight west of Buenos Aires, is the innovation that young, hip but equally serious winemakers are bringing to Malbec.
Mendoza itself is a blissed-out place. It's a walking and biking town: Mellow, tree-arched streets that keep everything delightfully cool radiate from a huge sprawling plaza, set against a backdrop of the striking Andes. At night, cafe culture spills onto the sidewalks, where people
chatter and chink cutlery in the balmy air.
With wine bars, boutiques and nightclubs, it makes a fun base camp for a weekend of wine touring. The surrounding vineyards are miraculous expanses of green, irrigated since pre-Inca times by mountain snowmelt. Dry and sunny by day, cool at night, the climate produces vines heavy with juicy grapes.
Some of the Mendoza region's best bodegas are in Maipu, 9 miles southeast of Mendoza, and Lujan de Cuyo, directly south. But there are thousands of wineries and vineyards in Mendoza; you could explore here for weeks.
FAMILY BUSINESS
At the Melipal winery, every member of the family is involved in the winemaking: Mom designed the landscaping; her daughter, Clarisa, creates the bottle labels; Clarisa's husband, Santiago, is the general manager.
Inside their modern bodega, they mess with tradition in a big way, letting the grape speak for itself by making a fruit-forward, nearly unoaked Malbec -- unheard of in Mendoza. Their first vintage in 2003 was an enormous success, achieving 91 points in Wine Spectator and selling out immediately.
Other bodegas are taking similar risks. Familia Zuccardi has an entire winery devoted to experimentation, featuring worldwide varietals as well as organic wines. New blends are constantly being tested, temperature and time are being tampered with, and wine drinkers -- even savvy Argentine ones -- are taking notice.
WELCOMING VISITORS
With the rise in wine travelers to the region, some Mendoza bodegas are pulling out the aesthetic stops. Carlos Pulenta, for example, painstakingly combines aesthetic and function with a eucalyptus roof and a rosewood floor, obviously with tourists in mind.
Other bodegas, like Melipal, opt to make you feel at home, like being invited into the family's living room. They'll tell you everything you want to know about their vintages, from the exact blend of grapes to the number of days spent in the tank.
Across the region, there are few trade secrets. Vintners often float between vineyards, making suggestions and acting as consultants.
''In the U.S., your neighbor might be a competitor,'' explains Melipal's Santiago, who spent time in California's Napa Valley. ``In Mendoza, we collaborate.''
DOMINIQUE CHANNELL
As wines go, many find Argentine Malbecs die-hard traditional. Dry, oaky, full of musky tongue-curling tannins, and quick to stain your lips purple-red, they're built to wash down forkfuls of steak, not to sip.
But what's refreshing about Mendoza, Argentina's wine country a half-hour flight west of Buenos Aires, is the innovation that young, hip but equally serious winemakers are bringing to Malbec.
Mendoza itself is a blissed-out place. It's a walking and biking town: Mellow, tree-arched streets that keep everything delightfully cool radiate from a huge sprawling plaza, set against a backdrop of the striking Andes. At night, cafe culture spills onto the sidewalks, where people
chatter and chink cutlery in the balmy air.
With wine bars, boutiques and nightclubs, it makes a fun base camp for a weekend of wine touring. The surrounding vineyards are miraculous expanses of green, irrigated since pre-Inca times by mountain snowmelt. Dry and sunny by day, cool at night, the climate produces vines heavy with juicy grapes.
Some of the Mendoza region's best bodegas are in Maipu, 9 miles southeast of Mendoza, and Lujan de Cuyo, directly south. But there are thousands of wineries and vineyards in Mendoza; you could explore here for weeks.
FAMILY BUSINESS
At the Melipal winery, every member of the family is involved in the winemaking: Mom designed the landscaping; her daughter, Clarisa, creates the bottle labels; Clarisa's husband, Santiago, is the general manager.
Inside their modern bodega, they mess with tradition in a big way, letting the grape speak for itself by making a fruit-forward, nearly unoaked Malbec -- unheard of in Mendoza. Their first vintage in 2003 was an enormous success, achieving 91 points in Wine Spectator and selling out immediately.
Other bodegas are taking similar risks. Familia Zuccardi has an entire winery devoted to experimentation, featuring worldwide varietals as well as organic wines. New blends are constantly being tested, temperature and time are being tampered with, and wine drinkers -- even savvy Argentine ones -- are taking notice.
WELCOMING VISITORS
With the rise in wine travelers to the region, some Mendoza bodegas are pulling out the aesthetic stops. Carlos Pulenta, for example, painstakingly combines aesthetic and function with a eucalyptus roof and a rosewood floor, obviously with tourists in mind.
Other bodegas, like Melipal, opt to make you feel at home, like being invited into the family's living room. They'll tell you everything you want to know about their vintages, from the exact blend of grapes to the number of days spent in the tank.
Across the region, there are few trade secrets. Vintners often float between vineyards, making suggestions and acting as consultants.
''In the U.S., your neighbor might be a competitor,'' explains Melipal's Santiago, who spent time in California's Napa Valley. ``In Mendoza, we collaborate.''
DOMINIQUE CHANNELL
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Rising Dragon & Wine
Top U.S. seller gears up for Asia's largest wine auction
HONG KONG (Reuters) - America's top wine seller will host Asia's largest ever auction of fine wines in Hong Kong this week, betting on Chinese consumers developing a finer nose for the beverage as the territory aspires to become a global industry hub.
Acker Merrall & Condit's inaugural auction of fine and rare wines in Hong Kong comes months after the city abolished duties on the drink in a bid to uncork some $500 million of new business, particularly with the city poised to tap the potential of the huge China market as a flood of newly minted consumers there chase Western lifestyle trends.
"We really made an effort to cull some of the best wines from the best sellers that we know," said John Kapon, the President and Auction Director of Acker Merrall & Condit.
"Hopefully China will become a little more wine friendly and follow the lead of the Hong Kong government ... perhaps make it easier for some of the mainlanders to acquire (and) import their wines back to mainland China," Kapon told reporters in Hong Kong.
The estimated $6 million sale will feature top vintages including a case of 1990 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, often considered the world's most expensive wine, which could fetch up to $240,000.
Other top lots include a case of 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild which could sell for $160,000 and a single large Jeroboam of 1961 Chateau Latour estimated at up to $50,000.
Most of the over 200 registered buyers at the sale hail from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.
Over the years, a small clique of affluent so called "super-collectors" in Hong Kong has established a reputation for seemingly limitless spending on some of the best vintages coming onto the market each year, outbidding other global connoisseurs.
Top American wine critic James Suckling, who writes for the respected Wine Spectator magazine, has described bacchanalian jaunts with such Hong Kong collectors including tycoons and the territory's number two official, Henry Tang.
"The profile of our Asian customers so far and their purchasing habit have been very top end ... the best of the best of the best," said Kapon.
Bonhams hosted a small but symbolic auction in Hong Kong last month worth $1.5 million, the first in the city in over a decade and the first since wine duties were abolished. Global auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's are also reported to be considering getting in on the act.
Industry representatives say the slashing of Hong Kong's 40 percent duty on wine will give it an edge over rivals such as Tokyo and Singapore.
(Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by David Fox)
HONG KONG (Reuters) - America's top wine seller will host Asia's largest ever auction of fine wines in Hong Kong this week, betting on Chinese consumers developing a finer nose for the beverage as the territory aspires to become a global industry hub.
Acker Merrall & Condit's inaugural auction of fine and rare wines in Hong Kong comes months after the city abolished duties on the drink in a bid to uncork some $500 million of new business, particularly with the city poised to tap the potential of the huge China market as a flood of newly minted consumers there chase Western lifestyle trends.
"We really made an effort to cull some of the best wines from the best sellers that we know," said John Kapon, the President and Auction Director of Acker Merrall & Condit.
"Hopefully China will become a little more wine friendly and follow the lead of the Hong Kong government ... perhaps make it easier for some of the mainlanders to acquire (and) import their wines back to mainland China," Kapon told reporters in Hong Kong.
The estimated $6 million sale will feature top vintages including a case of 1990 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, often considered the world's most expensive wine, which could fetch up to $240,000.
Other top lots include a case of 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild which could sell for $160,000 and a single large Jeroboam of 1961 Chateau Latour estimated at up to $50,000.
Most of the over 200 registered buyers at the sale hail from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.
Over the years, a small clique of affluent so called "super-collectors" in Hong Kong has established a reputation for seemingly limitless spending on some of the best vintages coming onto the market each year, outbidding other global connoisseurs.
Top American wine critic James Suckling, who writes for the respected Wine Spectator magazine, has described bacchanalian jaunts with such Hong Kong collectors including tycoons and the territory's number two official, Henry Tang.
"The profile of our Asian customers so far and their purchasing habit have been very top end ... the best of the best of the best," said Kapon.
Bonhams hosted a small but symbolic auction in Hong Kong last month worth $1.5 million, the first in the city in over a decade and the first since wine duties were abolished. Global auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's are also reported to be considering getting in on the act.
Industry representatives say the slashing of Hong Kong's 40 percent duty on wine will give it an edge over rivals such as Tokyo and Singapore.
(Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by David Fox)
Friday, May 23, 2008
High-Tech Wine Cap Design
A design for a high-tech closure for wine bottles that would allow the wine to breathe much like traditional bark corks won the $15,000 first prize in the annual Big Bang! Business Plan Competition at the University of California, Davis. The contest is run by students in the Graduate School of Management.
The screw-cap concept, which could help prevent some $10 billion worth of wine from being ruined every year by cork taint, will compete next on May 28 at the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Challenge in Palo Alto, Calif. The challenge pits the UC Davis team against the winners of business plan competitions at 15 other top west coast business schools. The prize: $250,000 in start-up funding.
"These students are trying things that more experienced people might say shouldn't be done," said Scott Lenet, managing director of DFJ Frontier and a volunteer judge for this year's Big Bang! Business Plan Competition. "That's why these business plan competitions are so important. These are the people who will create the next Microsoft, the next Amgen."
In addition to the first-prize-winning cork concept, a $5,000 second prize and $3,000 "people's choice" award -- selected by audience vote -- went to the same team: Arcus. Led by second-year MBA candidate Matt Vogel, who has had diabetes since adolescence, the team is developing technology that would allow people with diabetes to test their blood sugar levels by blowing into a small handheld device -- a pain-free alternative to current glucose monitoring, in which patients must prick their fingers to draw a blood sample two to eight times a day.
The Big Bang! competition, founded in 2000 by students at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, is designed to reward innovation at UC Davis and encourage entrepreneurship in the region at large. Previous winners and finalists have gone on to form such companies as Bloo Solar, Instant Effects and Improved Converters.
This year's Big Bang! awards were announced on campus Wednesday evening, following presentations of the five finalists' plans. The event drew a standing-room-only crowd of about 275 people at a ballroom at the Activities and Recreation Center.
The high-tech wine cap was developed by MBA student Tim Keller, a UC Davis viticulture and enology alumnus who worked for 10 years as a winemaker in Sonoma and Napa counties before enrolling in the Graduate School of Management, and his teammates, Kevin Chartrand and Diana Mejia. Chartrand, a fellow MBA candidate with an undergraduate degree in materials science, worked as a thin-film expert at IBM. Mejia, a former engineer for Anheuser-Busch, is earning a master's degree in food engineering at UC Davis.
Their team, Advanced Enological Closures, set out to design a better bottle cap because cork taint, a byproduct of a fungus that infects cork and makes wine smell like moldy mop water or sweaty gym socks, now contaminates the corks of an estimated one in 20 wine bottles on store shelves, ruining billions of dollars of wine annually. Although synthetic corks have been developed in response to the problem, they allow too much oxygen into the bottle, according to Keller. Overly oxidized wine has a shorter shelf life and can develop a fingernail-polish odor. Screw caps -- another alternative to bark corks -- are a viable option for wine white, but do not allow in enough oxygen for fine red wines, Keller said. Without enough oxygen to draw on, red wines start to smell like burned rubber or matchsticks as they age.
The team's design, a "breathing screw cap," has small vent holes and is fitted with a liner made of alternating layers of thin metal and a porous polymer. The liner can be customized to allow optimal oxidation for specific varietals, something that is impossible with bark corks. A patent is pending for the design.
"If you open up lots of bottles of the same wine, you'll notice variability from bottle to bottle because of differences in the amount of oxygen that gets in," Keller said. "With cork, you just never know. Our product will give a level of control that the wine industry has never had."
The cap would sell for 20 cents a unit -- or 10 to 11 cents per unit less than cork-and-foil closures, and only 5 cents more per unit than ordinary screw caps and synthetic corks, according to the team's projections.
UC Davis News
The screw-cap concept, which could help prevent some $10 billion worth of wine from being ruined every year by cork taint, will compete next on May 28 at the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Challenge in Palo Alto, Calif. The challenge pits the UC Davis team against the winners of business plan competitions at 15 other top west coast business schools. The prize: $250,000 in start-up funding.
"These students are trying things that more experienced people might say shouldn't be done," said Scott Lenet, managing director of DFJ Frontier and a volunteer judge for this year's Big Bang! Business Plan Competition. "That's why these business plan competitions are so important. These are the people who will create the next Microsoft, the next Amgen."
In addition to the first-prize-winning cork concept, a $5,000 second prize and $3,000 "people's choice" award -- selected by audience vote -- went to the same team: Arcus. Led by second-year MBA candidate Matt Vogel, who has had diabetes since adolescence, the team is developing technology that would allow people with diabetes to test their blood sugar levels by blowing into a small handheld device -- a pain-free alternative to current glucose monitoring, in which patients must prick their fingers to draw a blood sample two to eight times a day.
The Big Bang! competition, founded in 2000 by students at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, is designed to reward innovation at UC Davis and encourage entrepreneurship in the region at large. Previous winners and finalists have gone on to form such companies as Bloo Solar, Instant Effects and Improved Converters.
This year's Big Bang! awards were announced on campus Wednesday evening, following presentations of the five finalists' plans. The event drew a standing-room-only crowd of about 275 people at a ballroom at the Activities and Recreation Center.
The high-tech wine cap was developed by MBA student Tim Keller, a UC Davis viticulture and enology alumnus who worked for 10 years as a winemaker in Sonoma and Napa counties before enrolling in the Graduate School of Management, and his teammates, Kevin Chartrand and Diana Mejia. Chartrand, a fellow MBA candidate with an undergraduate degree in materials science, worked as a thin-film expert at IBM. Mejia, a former engineer for Anheuser-Busch, is earning a master's degree in food engineering at UC Davis.
Their team, Advanced Enological Closures, set out to design a better bottle cap because cork taint, a byproduct of a fungus that infects cork and makes wine smell like moldy mop water or sweaty gym socks, now contaminates the corks of an estimated one in 20 wine bottles on store shelves, ruining billions of dollars of wine annually. Although synthetic corks have been developed in response to the problem, they allow too much oxygen into the bottle, according to Keller. Overly oxidized wine has a shorter shelf life and can develop a fingernail-polish odor. Screw caps -- another alternative to bark corks -- are a viable option for wine white, but do not allow in enough oxygen for fine red wines, Keller said. Without enough oxygen to draw on, red wines start to smell like burned rubber or matchsticks as they age.
The team's design, a "breathing screw cap," has small vent holes and is fitted with a liner made of alternating layers of thin metal and a porous polymer. The liner can be customized to allow optimal oxidation for specific varietals, something that is impossible with bark corks. A patent is pending for the design.
"If you open up lots of bottles of the same wine, you'll notice variability from bottle to bottle because of differences in the amount of oxygen that gets in," Keller said. "With cork, you just never know. Our product will give a level of control that the wine industry has never had."
The cap would sell for 20 cents a unit -- or 10 to 11 cents per unit less than cork-and-foil closures, and only 5 cents more per unit than ordinary screw caps and synthetic corks, according to the team's projections.
UC Davis News
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