VINEXPO Report

OK, it's a week later. I've taken my pills, caught up on a bit of sleep, given up on the inbox, written the reports and followed up with new contacts so I'm ready to have my say on VINEXPO Asia-Pacific 2010.

Although at times it may seem like some form of ancient sleep-deprivation torture the week is a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and make a lot of new ones. Industry professionals get to feel special as everyone fights over them and importers, like us, get to make their clients feel special. It's also a good opportunity to get a glimpse (or taste) of what the future is in the industry, all be it a distinctively northern hemisphere view.

So what did we learn?

• The French are very serious about keeping their number 1 position in Asia but spent as much time watching the Chilean stand as they did their own
• The Chileans are very serious about taking the number 1 position from the French yet didn't look at their stands at all
• Chinese will still offer blank cheques to "Select" Chateaux
• "Select" Chateaux will still take blank cheques 
• When the first growths release En Primeur you will have to sell your house to buy any
• The Australians and New Zealanders prefer to have their own shows and we will see them in November
• Wine makers WILL whore themselves to get into China and the Chinese know it
• A massive bag of marketing dollars can buy success as shown by the Italians
• Germany and Spain are not the flavour of the month 
• The Chinese are fiercely patriotic when it comes to their own wine
• The market is very slowly opening up to white wine 
• European wine makers have spent millions of dollars on market research into China and have then ignored it and are going their own way - with little success.

Make no mistake this event was aimed squarely at the Chinese market and a quick glimpse around would tell you that it showed little reflection of what is happening in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region or even Hong Kong for that matter.

On the wine side our producers came up with some great 07's and a few barrel samples that were showing some real promise.

VINEXPO Asia-Pacific will be hailed a success for the most part and I know for our company it was. However I do wonder about the lovely German lady who sat at her stand for 3 days looking for an importer of fizzy Non-alcoholic fruit juice and didn't open 1 bottle. Maybe not so successful for her.

Dean

PS: My highlight was a 1998 Montrachet Grand Cru from Domain Jacques Prieur - but that's a story for another day

  

HAWIN Luncheon with AWBC

Ok, so for those of you not in the know there is a little known group of HK wine merchants that get together every now and then to discuss all the wonderful things about importing good old Aussie wine. We even have a cute name Hong Kong Australian Wine Importers Network or HAWIN.

Now most times we get together it is to chat about what's going on or to listen to a visiting Politician tell us how we are doing a great job. We have a couple of sandwiches, drink some good grape juice and head on home. Today was a little different.

Someone wanted to listen to US! Hooray!

But I am being a little cynical. The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation are the regulatory board that for the most part do a pretty good job of looking after our industry and they popped in to Hong kong to get some advice on what they should do about helping us out.

Now all of us living here know that China is quite a unique market in many ways and any one who has tried to take a western approach to solving their marketing woes has usually gone back home with their tail between their legs.

Here's what everyone had to say:

Paul Henry, Head Honcho AWBC

• Instead of focussing on oversupply in Australia we need to look at maximising our potential markets overseas
• He showed us lots of stats and pie charts
• The AWBC is appointing a new Asia Head and they will be based in Hong Kong (great news)
• There will be several road shows coming up before the end of the year

Lucy Anderson is the AWBC marketing guru

• Landmark program for educating wine personalities from the region through master classes
• All be it accidently, she gave us the first sneak peak at the new campaigns that will be launched in June that will make every one in China fall in love with Australian Wine.

Then they asked us what we would like, and we said:

• Better education programs for those in the industry
• Education programs for those Professionals in the industry
• More education programs for the public 
• More focus on expanding the wine market in HK

So now we have gone off to feel better about ourselves because we had our say and the nice folk at the AWBC get some market feed back.

So there it is! A thrilling insight into the Australian wine industry in Hong Kong.

So that's what we had to say, what do you think? What would make you drink more Aussie wine. Please let us know as I would be only too happy to pass it on.

Dean

An unexpected pleasure!

Last week I enjoyed an wonderful meal that was most unexpected. See if you can work out where I was.

I started with a glass of Champagne to settle in. I then enjoyed nice citrus flavours in a white Bordeaux with a tasty and light prawn salad. Main course was a superb 2" cut of Australian Eye Fillet cooked medium rare with a red wine sauce and lightly steamed vegetables so they were still crunchy. To accompany this I chose a glass of RockBare McLaren Vale Shiraz that went down a treat.

I must admit that I was feeling a little full at this stage so I skipped the chocolate desert and decided to finish on a selection of French cheese, including blues and bries, and washed this all down with an Australian aged Port.

After such a meal I did the only thing a decent man would do! I reclined and took a nap.

So did you work out where I was for this little feast?

I was actually enjoying the hospitality of Cathay Pacific at 40,000 feet on my way to Melbourne.

They are making it very hard to complain about airline food.

Dean

facebook fans and likes explained

There have been some changes made to facebook fan pages and they seem to have caused some confusion so I thought I would take a moment to explain them.


FANS are now LIKES so all PEOPLE THAT LIKE but are no longer FANS are PEOPLE THAT LIKE and your FRIENDS that were FANS but are now LIKES are FRIENDS THAT LIKE. FRIENDS THAT LIKE can be PEOPLE THAT LIKE but PEOPLE THAT LIKE are not always FRIENDS THAT LIKE. 
The FRIENDS THAT LIKE are your FRIENDS THAT LIKE and not like other PEOPLES FRIENDS THAT LIKE as they have their own FRIENDS THAT LIKE that may only be your PEOPLE THAT LIKE. 


There - I think that clears it all up!


Dean

Kaneda Opens in Wan Chai

On Tuesday, March 30th, The Kaneda Group held a star studded opening for their new Wan Chai outlet on Johnston Road. This is the 4th outlet for the group and I went along to have a look for myself.

Back in January Saveurs Assistant Sales Manager, Kiki Bhutia, came together with Kaneda Group General Manager, Frankie Leung, to design a Sake and Wine list that would be fitting of a exciting Wan Chai Japanese restaurant. Over the next couple of months they worked hard to fine tune an exciting menu that will compliment all the great Japanese food and the Crepe kitchen. When it was all complete our graphic artist designed the menu layout and it was ready to go.

When I arrived at the Fraser Suite Building I must admit feeling a bit like a rock star with all the people lining the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of the real stars. My name was on the door (phew) and so I made my way up the stair case that was adorned with flowers and well wishes. The entrance area is inviting with a  very attractive bar area and I grabbed a Champagne to keep me company as I walked through.

Again I disappointed the media that had gathered around the stage but I didn't let their moans stop me. The open Sushi kitchen on the left was in full action and it didn't take me long to find the food buffet. After a brief stop to enjoy the delightful selection I decided I should let some of the other guests have some as well (begrudgingly)  and I started my quest to find the Crepes kitchen I had heard about.

Stopping briefly at the bar to grab a Mojo Sauvignon Blanc I braved on through the crowd and found the  Crepes kitchen waiting along with private rooms and a second dining room. Taste test and exploration complete I made my way back to the bar where the endless parade of Hong Kong beauties had begun.

Director of the Kaneda Group, Mr Alan Ho, made me quite jealous as he made the official opening with his close friends Angela Baby, Rosemary and Lynn Xiong (see photos below). Within an hour all the festivities were over and the Models had all gone back to that wonderful place were all beautiful things come from and the rest of us mere mortals are forbidden to tread.

It was time for me to return to the office and get back to work. I departed via the buffet again and left thinking that I will definitely return again soon.

I am sure the Kaneda Group will have another successful venture and we wish them well.
I would also like to apologise to the poor person that took my photo as I left thinking I was someone important!

Dean.

Save Our Industry

Everyone is complaining about oversupply in Australia, the lowest sales in years for Champagne and changing import patterns in the UK. They are holding forums, amassing the greatest minds in the wine industry, paying millions in market analysis and buying weekly flights to China all in a vane attempt to rectify the problem or hopefully find the miracle solution.

Well put away the podium and stick your wallet back in your pocket, I have the solution!!!

Abolish working on weekends!

I KNOW! Brilliant isn't it?

It came to me last night as I declined the offer of a second bottle of wine because "I have to work tomorrow". There must be Billions of people all over the world saying that exact same phrase every Friday night. Now, lets presume that they didn't have to go to work on that Saturday!          WALA!

We could even market it and have special events to celebrate together just like 'Earth Hour'. We could call it "Happy Hour"! (this just keeps getting better)

In a couple of months the over supply problem would be fixed, people would drink Champagne to celebrate and even the English would start drinking French wine again.

I have scheduled a meeting to discuss this with my boss and can't imagine how he could not agree with me. I suggest you should speak to yours about it as well.

Let me know how you get on.

Burgundy, Part 1c: Cote de Nuits

The 3rd installment of Lee Watson's look at Burgundy.

(The rest of Cote de Nuits)

• Nuits-Saint George:

The second largest commune in Cote de Nuits after Gevrey-Chambertin, this commune is large and like Clos de Vougeot in the fact that sometimes people will over charge for wine because the name is famous. There are no Grand Crus now until the Cote de Beaune. The wines here have good depth and finesse with good structure and richness for 1er Cru level. Some of the best 1er Cru’s are on the border with Vosne-Romanee. Half way through the commune is the town Nuits-Saint-George and it splits the vineyards in half the southern vineyards 1er Cru’s all on the slopes. This Commune can produce some good 1er Crus, but as said before get to know the grower as this 1er Cru and villages status can be abused with lazy wine making.

• Premeaux:

This commune is next as you drive down the N74 and leave the last 1er Cru on your right hand side up the slope, all the 1er Cru and villages appellations will be labelled as Nuits-Saint-George and the 1er Cru can be more like the 1er Crus of the north Nuits-Saint-George that borders Vosne-Romanee and they produce a good sturdy and masculine wine. Both these communes produce awesome wines, but you must be aware of the name being taken advantage of.

• Comblanchien / Corgoloin:

From the last 1er Cru of Nuits-Saint-George in Premeaux called Clos de la Marechale you are now entering in to 3km of Village status communes before you go into Cote de Beaune. Like in the north of Cote de Nuits you have Brochon and Fixin; these will all be labelled as Cote de Nuits Villages. Out of the whole Cote de Nuits there are some great Cote de Nuits Village wines which I recommend to only buy depending on the grower you know or have been recommended. Cote de Nuits Village wines are not expensive and deserve a try to introduce your self to Cote de Nuits wines; it will be a simple trial and error situation.

General notes for Cote de Nuits

Each wine will be labelled as either:

• Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits (from all the vineyards outside the commune appellations)
• Cote de Nuits Village (either from Comblanchien, Corgoloin in the south or Brochon and Fixin in the north)
• Under just the name of the commune (i.e. Gevrey-Chambertin)
• 1er Cru, naming the vineyard & Commune(i.e. Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques)
• Grand Cru, naming the vineyard & Commune(i.e. Chambertin, Grand Cru)

There is one more appellation its time to mention and that’s Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits, wines with this on the label are from the vineyards all over the cote de Nuits, all around the village vineyards and the 1er Cru vineyards. Land that isn’t considered to be good enough for village level will be under this appellation. There are now over 1,400 Hectares under vine, which 85% is red. Be careful when you buy a white under this appellation, in my mind you’re probably better to buy a white from Cote Chalonnaise or buy a Chardonnay Bourgogne. You can get good reds, but buy from a hot year like 2003, 2005 or even maybe 2009 (yet to be tasted). The white should be ok for a 2007, choose only good vintages for Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits.

Our recommendations:

  Domaine des Perdrix, Nuits-Saint-George, 1er Cru Aux Perdrix,         2005 $660

If you have any comments let us know here.

Next week: Cote de Beaune