Major South African Wine Tasting Event in Hong Kong - 22 April 2013 JW Marriott

The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong is organizing a major South African focused wine tasting event on Monday 22 April 2013 at the JW Marriott, Admiralty.

More than 100 top South African wines from 35 famous vineyards such as the Ayama Leopard Shiraz-Pinotage Mourvedre 2010, the Blaauwklippen Before & After, Boschendal Cecil John Reserve Shiraz and Fairview The Beacon Shiraz 2008.

If that were not enough all participants have a chance to wine a two night stay at Mount Nelson and a Wineland day tour in Cape Town as well as a chance to win South Africa's best selling wine annual the Platter Guide.

Cost is HKD495 regular price - those interested should contact the South China Morning Post directly to book at wine@scmp.com. Full details available at the following link where you can rsvp as well:

http://promotions.scmp.com/scmpevent/marketing/events/20130314/landing/southafricawine_landing.asp


Promises to be a great event and opportunity to try wines not widely available in the territory.

Interview With Nicolas Vion - Founder Of La Vinotheque Hong Kong

We are delighted to have Nicolas Vion - founder of La Vinotheque Hong Kong - a specialist in Swiss wines in the territory educate us on Swiss wines and share his thoughts on his passion and personal interests.

Those in Hong Kong will also have a chance to meet him and try out his wines on Wednesday 24th - stay tuned for the announcement on www.winewednesday.hk.

Members of The Wine Deal will be given priority invitation to join this event with specially priced discounts for the wines available as well. Those interested to learn about La Vinotheque can visit the website: http://www.lavinotheque.com.hk Those who have not yet joined The Wine Deal.com should do so at the website.

In the meantime enjoy reading the interview.

1.       Tell us a little about yourself, how you got into wines and the wine business and how have you found Hong Kong so far?

I graduated from Hotel School back in Switzerland while my parents were living in Hong Kong at that time. I was always amazed to see the wide range of wines available in Hong Kong from countries such as France, Australia and Italy but was always disappointed that I could never find wines from Switzerland! One part of my family is in the liquor/wine distribution in France and restaurants, so I took the challenge to introduce Swiss wines to Hong Kong and Asia in general!

As for Hong Kong, I love it really! People here are very open minded and just very friendly in general! Moreover the environment is one of best to encourage SME’s to further develop! Also Hong Kong is now the gateway for wine in Asia which makes it even more exciting as a wine merchant.

2.  What made La Vinotheque decide to wish to set up in Hong Kong and whats the differentiating factor between yourself and competitors?

Hong Kong is nowadays the center of wine trading in Asia. It is a great place to meet winemakers and buyers from all around the world!

We differentiate from our competitors by providing exclusive products that you can rarely find on the market and we select wines that really bring added value for the price. Currently we stay on the middle market (200HKD to 700HKD) and I am very confident that our products are of outstanding quality within this price range! We personally know all our partners and they entrust us with their best quality wines to represent them in Hong Kong and Asia. Before all, what we want is to surprise our customers and introduce new tastes on the market!

3. Is your business focused on retail customers only, trade, hotels and restaurants or all of the them at present?

 For now we are more focused on retail customers as it is important to know the feedback of the market on our products! So far we had a very positive feedback on the wines we are selling, and we came up with an interesting and complete offer to get started with the hotels and restaurants professionals! I am sure as people become more familiar with Swiss wines, that hotels and restaurants will find a great interest in our wines!

4. Can you tell us a little about Swiss wines, what types of wines are considered the finest from Switzerland and why you think that is.

Switzerland shares the same wine history as France and has been producing wine since ages (first signs of wine making in Switzerland were around 3000 BC!). Switzerland is part of the old-world producing countries and people might not know so well about it, but the wine producing history in Switzerland is huge! Some of our winemakers have been producing wines for more than 150 years!
The wine-producing areas are in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, in particular the cantons of Valais (35%), Vaud (26%), Geneva (9%) and Neuchatel (4%). South of the Alps, Ticino (Italian region) represents 6% of the national vineyards, while the cantons located in the German-speaking region produce the remaining 20%.

Swiss wines are very rare outside of Switzerland because the domestic market is very strong and only 2% of the wines are exported every year (most often to France and Germany). Furthermore, the output of Swiss wines is very limited due to the nature of the unique landscapes.

Switzerland boasts more than fifty varieties of grapes. Although most are widely recognized internationally, there are some local varieties that are not that well known such as the “Chasselas” for white grapes and “Humagne” or “Cornalin” for the red grapes.

Switzerland white wines are considered best for their quality, structure and unique taste caused by the richness of the soil. The aromas and taste of the wines are reflected by the diverse landscape of the country. However, I really think that you can find some incredible red wines nowadays in Switzerland, especially from Pinot Noir, Gamay and Syrah grapes! I was often surprised by the quality and complexity of some of the reds we tasted!

5. What has the reaction been so far to your wines and Swiss wines overall here in Hong Kong?

 So far the reactions were great! People know Switzerland for high quality products and services such as luxury watches, beauty products and finance services. Well actually, wine produced in Switzerland share the same core values as any other Swiss products! All our wine makers are passionate about their wines, strive to improve the quality each harvest and carefully take time to create the most authentic Swiss wines!

When people try our products, they related to the Swiss Quality image and can really understand and feel the great amount of implication and the efforts the winemakers put in the wine making process! In Switzerland, making wine is a tradition, a way of life and a passion rather than a business!

6. What is your favourite wine from your portfolio and why?

 My favorite wine from our portfolio would be our Syrah de Sion, aged in barrel, from our partner “Dubuis & Rudaz”. The wine maker applies the Biodynamic production process on all its vineyards and really respects the nature. The wine in itself is strong and complex, with notes of spices and pepper balanced with light notes of caramel and vanilla, structured tannins and a great balance. The wine maker decided not to filter the wine to enhance the complexity and the overall taste! A must try for wine lovers!

7. What is your favourite wine not in your portfolio and why?

 I love wines from the Ticino regions, the Italian part of Switzerland. Some of the wines there are tremendous and comes at a cross road between France and Italy in terms of taste and structure. We will try to include some of those exclusive wines in our portfolio within the year to add some diversity to our current offer!

8.  Understand you studied at the The Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne - how was your experience there?

I am very proud of my education at The Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne. They really focus the studies on personal values rather than on the academics only. From my point of view, my studies at EHL were a kind of a condensed life lesson: you have fun, you struggle, you learn from each other and you learn to overcome obstacles! They taught me how to be humble and respectful of people while getting all the necessary tools to run any kind of business!

9. What does the future hold for La Vinotheque - will you expand to other markets in Asia including China?

 We basically started our operations in Hong Kong in September 2012, so we want to settle on the Hong Kong market first and build our customer base there before reaching any new markets. People, culture and practices change greatly from one market to another in Asia, so it is important to be well prepared and not to take any rash actions. However, we do hope to reach very challenging markets such as Mainland China, Taiwan and Korea where wine lovers have yet to discover Swiss wines!

10. Finally do you have any hobbies outside of wine?

       I like to play Tennis as much as possible when I get the chance! I am really not that 

      good and started only couple of years ago, but I love it! I also really enjoy snowboard

      and winter sports in general, but it is rather difficult to practice in Hong Kong! Otherwise,

      I like to meet friends after work, share some good dinner, good wines and just enjoy life

      in Hong Kong!

Bordeaux 2012 - Thoughts So Far

Decanter magazine has published some initial thoughts from the tastings currently underway in Bordeaux as the 2012 en primeur season commences.

Read this link for their thoughts - in short quality can be found and so far tasters are preferring Pomerol and Pessac Leognan.

http://www.decanter.com/bordeaux-2012/en-primeur-coverage/583784/bordeaux-2012-attendance-good-but-doubts-about-quality-persist

Chateau Palmer 2012 - Characteristics Of The Vintage

Chateau Palmer has published its views on its 2012 vintage.

See here for comments:

http://www.chateau-palmer.com/chateau_palmer.php?millesime=2012&langue=en

Franco Biondi Santi Dies

Legend of Brunello di Montalcino Franco Biondi Santi has died at age 91. Read the following for more info:

http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/583783/franco-biondi-santi-dies-at-91

Part 2 - Shanken Interview with John Grant, Managing Director of Beringer

Click to read second part of Shanken Daily's interview with John Grant, Managing Director of Beringer

http://www.shankennewsdaily.com/index.php/2013/04/05/5523/interview-part-two-john-grant-managing-director-beringer-at-treasury-wine-estates/

Shanken Interview with John Grant, Managing Director of Beringer

Click this link to read Shanken's interesting interview with John Grant, Managing Director of Beringer part of Treasury Wine Estates.

http://www.shankennewsdaily.com/index.php/2013/04/04/5514/interview-part-one-john-grant-managing-director-beringer-at-treasury-wine-estates/