By KELVIN CHAN, AP Business Writer
Monday, November 7, 2011

(11-07) 01:08 PST HONG KONG, China (AP) –
As growth slows in their traditional markets, wine makers from around the world are eager to tap demand in China but industry players say the increased competition and a lack of wine drinking culture mean it won’t be easy money.
Thousands of people attending a major wine and spirits trade fair last week in Hong Kong sipped and spat countless vintages made by producers ranging from boutique vineyards in New Zealand to famed chateaux from France’s Bordeaux region. Others were in town to attend a wine conference that featured speakers including Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola.
Many are keen to get a foothold in China’s wine market, which has taken off in recent years, particularly at the high end, as newly wealthy collectors splurge for bottles of fine French wines at auctions in Hong Kong. The southern Chinese city abolished wine import duties in 2008 in a bid to become a regional wine center and imports surged by nearly 60 percent in the first nine months of 2011 to $940 million.
In September, a private Chinese buyer paid 4.2 million Hong Kong dollars ($541,000) for a 300-bottle collection of Chateau Lafite Rothschild consisting of 25 cases spanning 1981 to 2005 at a Christie’s auction. That was the highest price for a single lot of wine at auction this year in a sale that raised $7.7 million in total.
China is the world’s fastest growing market for still light wine and is forecast this year to overtake Britain as the fifth biggest market, according to a September report by UK-based International Wine and Spirit Research.
The report forecast that China’s wine consumption will double to 250 million 12-bottle cases by 2016, from 125 million in 2010. If growth rates remain unchanged, the country could become the world’s biggest wine market in the next 20 years, the report said.
The tantalizing prospect of such rapid growth drew Daniel and Lesley Jackson, husband and wife owners of Redoubt Hill Vineyard, a boutique winemaker in New Zealand’s Marlborough region — famed for its sauvignon blanc — to the trade fair for the first time.
“The traditional markets, apart from Australia, are a bit stressed at the moment — Europe, Britain, America. Asia, obviously their economy is doing really well,” said Daniel Jackson.
The Jacksons were trying to find a distributor in Hong Kong and China for bottles of their sauvignon blanc and pinot gris, which retail for $35 New Zealand dollars ($28).
They were among nearly 1,000 exhibitors from 37 countries hoping to cut deals with the 2,750 buyers expected to attend the fair. For the first time, vineyards from countries not usually known for their wines, including Georgia, Israel, Latvia and Malta were in attendance.
Winemakers are hoping growth in China will offset flagging sales in traditionally key markets such as Europe, where a long term decline in wine drinking has been exacerbated by the continent’s government debt crisis.
“People think that because China has 1.4 billion people, it’s easy to come here and sell wine, and that’s the catch,” said Pancho Campo, president of the Wine Academy of Spain.
China’s status as the world’s biggest and fastest growing consumer market has drawn many foreign businesses in pursuit of big profits. But some, retailers in particular, have found that size alone doesn’t guarantee success, forcing them to pull out or change marketing strategy amid tough competition — and in some cases after misreading local preferences.
China’s wine market is split between the high end, where the wealthy spend thousands of dollars on bottles as an investment or to drink at restaurants on special occasions and the low end, dominated by local and foreign producers selling wine for just a few dollars a bottle or in large containers. The middle market doesn’t really exist, said Campo, who is also president of the Wine Academy of Spain.
That will be a particular challenge for so-called New World winemakers from countries such as Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina, who will face tougher competition on prices, said Antonio Gaudioso, export manager at Vecchia Cantina di Montepulciano, a cooperative in Italy’s Tuscany region.
That’s because in China, when it comes to foreign wines, red wine from France is prized much more than those from other countries — even those from other Old World producers Italy and Spain.
Regardless of their origin, winemakers will have to work hard to educate China’s new middle classes about wine and spend money promoting their vintages as they develop the middle market, both Campo and Gaudioso said.
A key challenge will be adapting to a different culture of imbibing at meals.
“It has nothing to do with food pairing, it’s just to do with ganbei,” said Campo, referring to the Chinese equivalent of “cheers.” The word is a common utterance at formal banquets where diners take turns toasting each other with baijiu, a clear sorghum liquor with more than 50 percent alcohol content — usually until everyone is blind drunk.
“If these people, whenever they have a dinner and they can include wine as one option to baijiu, you’re talking about millions of barrels that can be consumed throughout China,” he said.

Source:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/11/07/financial/f010811S90.DTL

Useful tips on how and where to buy wine in Philippines, wine shops in Manila, Makati, Ortigas, Alabang, wine stores in Pampanga, Subic, Angeles City and Clark Freeport are here for the convenience of wine lovers and wine shoppers. This wine shop is generally regarded by wine lovers to be the best place to buy wine in Manila.

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Wines from new world regions are well represented at this wine shop in Ortigas, Makati, Metro Manila Philippines. Fine wines from Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and South Africa are offered in their wine shops, wine stores, wine bars and fine dining restaurants throughout the Philippines, Quezon City, Makati, fort, Ortigas, Eastwood, Metro Manila and Pampanga.

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Yats Wine Cellars Philippines
3003C East Tower, Philippines Stock Exchange Center (Tektite)
Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Metro Manila, Philippines
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 ask for Rea or Kristine

http://www.YatsWineCellars.com

For inquiries and orders, Click here to for inquiries and orders

For wine lovers in Hong Kong, Macau and China:

Yats International HK Sales Office,
Room 1302, 13/F., The Centre Mark
287-299 Queen’s Road Central Sheung Wan,
Hong Kong SAR

Tel: (852) 2788-0738 ask for Miss Eva Leung

Wine@Yats-International.com

If Philippines is part of an upcoming travel and holiday plan, wine lovers might want to visit Clark Freeport Zone just 70 minutes from Manila. This bustling new city that is slated to replace Manila as the new capital of the Philippines has the largest wine shop called Clark Wine Center. For more information, log on to

http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Clark Wine Center
Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building
Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,
Angeles Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023
0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)

Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila
Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple: after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave. From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City. From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.

Are you looking for an attractive restaurant or a nice place to eat with friends in Clark, Angeles City Pampanga? Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar is a restaurant with good food and good wines for dinner located at Clark Angeles City Pampanga. Perfect for exclusive dinner venues for groups, recommended for private dinner in Philippines. A Restaurant in Clark for business dinner meeting. Private dinner place or dinner restaurant in Clark Subic Near Manila Angeles City Pampanga. Yats Restaurant is one of the Good Restaurant in Pampanga Angeles City Clark near Manila. Yats Restaurant is one of the good restaurants in Pampanga, a restaurant with good food, a place that is nice for celebration, ideal for business dinner meeting, a good place to enjoy family reunion, and an attractive restaurant that serves good wines for dinner.

Looking for famous tourists spots, places to visit and see, relax and unwind in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines? You may want to check out these sites also:

Wedding couples looking for wedding reception venues and beach wedding venues can log on to this Philippines Wedding Venue web site for free information and assistance:

http://www.PhilippinesWeddingVenue.com

While in Clark, it might be a good idea to enjoy an evening of wine-and-dine in the fine dining Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar that features an award winning 2700-line wine list. It is located in Mimosa Leisure Estate of Clark Freeport Zone. For more information, visit http://www.YatsRestaurant.com

YATS Leisure Philippines is a developer and operator of clubs, resorts and high-class restaurants and wine shops in Clark Angeles Philippineshttp://www.YatsLeisure.com

http://www.LondonPubClark.com

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http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com

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www.YatsRestaurant.com

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Looking for interesting hotels near Manila Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga?
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Clearwater Resort and Country Club offers a good place to stay in Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga. In offers nice place to have rest in Subic Pampanga outside Manila.
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www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com