Affluent Wine Buyers in Asia Find Their Confidence

International New York Times |  4 April 2014

A sommelier at the InterContinental Hotel in Hong Kong dusts off wine bottles on display. Credit Dean C.K. Cox for The New York Times

HONG KONG — Six bottles of 1990 Romanée-Conti Burgundy sold to an Asian buyer at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong last month for 980,000 Hong Kong dollars ($126,345). A case of wine from the Cros Parantoux vineyard in Burgundy, France, fetched $82,333 in a sale held by the American auction house Acker Merrall & Condit at a restaurant overlooking Hong Kong’s harbor.

Fine wine comes at a price in Asia, but there are plenty of buyers. Asian consumers have become a major factor in the global wine market, with China overtaking France and Italy last year as the biggest consumer of red wine. Now, customers in the region are getting more sophisticated, educated and diverse in their wine choices.

“There are a lot more wine lovers in Asia, and they are enjoying a lot more wines,” Simon Tam, head of wine at Christie’s China, said about the auction house’s recent sale. “The market is maturing very, very rapidly.”

Asians have traditionally been drinkers of whiskey, brandy and local spirits like baijiu, a liquor distilled from grain, rather than wine. But rising wealth, a penchant for giving gifts and a constant search for new types of investment have turned affluent Asians into avid buyers of top wines and other luxury items in recent years.

Visitors from mainland China shopping for wine in Hong Kong, where taxes on wine were abolished in 2008. Credit Dean C.K. Cox for The New York Times

Hong Kong, which was barely featured on the international wine scene a decade ago, has become a major hub for wine trading since taxes on wine were abolished here in 2008. Dozens of merchants have opened operations, including famous players like the British company Berry Brothers & Rudd, which traces its roots to 1698, and niche establishments like La Cabane, which sells natural wines from small vineyards in France.

Even in Singapore, where taxes add considerably to the price of a bottle of wine, CWT, a logistics company, is spending 200 million Singapore dollars ($158 million) on a high-end wine storage facility that will be able to store 10 million bottles in air-conditioned and humidity- and light-controlled conditions.

“For Asian buyers, it’s a lot about prestige — about enjoying wines as a luxury,” said Robert Sleigh, head of the wine department at Sotheby’s in Asia. “They are prepared to pay substantial premiums for wines that come directly from the vineyard and they put a lot of importance on the cosmetic appearance of the bottle.”

Slowing momentum in some Asian economies and Beijing’s determination to rein in flashy spending by state officials have helped to inject some sobriety into the market. Average lot prices at Christie’s wine sales in Hong Kong are 30,000 to 60,000 Hong Kong dollars (roughly $3,860 to $7,730), down from about 150,000 to 200,000 dollars in 2010, Mr. Tam said. The average price of bottles sold by Acker Merrall fell by about half from 2011 to 2013. 

In the early years of the boom, buyers, still unsure of themselves, focused on just a few dozen notable names. French Bordeaux wines were a particular favorite and dominated sales.

Now buyers have spread their wings and are purchasing more types of wines, and from more places, than they did a few years ago. This trend echoes what is happening in other categories of luxury spending, like handbags or clothing, where an initial allegiance to big-name, highly recognizable brands has begun to fade as shoppers have become more confident and individualistic.

“We have a customer who used to buy a bottle of Bordeaux with us every week,” said Vincent Feron, a sommelier who works at Winebeast, a small store that opened in the bustling Hong Kong neighborhood of Wan Chai last year and sells mostly French and Spanish wines.

“Now, he has started to explore other wines, and really likes Languedoc,” Mr. Feron said, referring to an area in southern France. “People like to be educated. As soon as they get to trust you, they are prepared to take your advice.”

A worker enjoys a glass of wine with his takeout lunch at a wine shop in Hong Kong’s central neighborhood. Credit Dean C.K. Cox for The New York Times

Retailers and top restaurants have reacted to Asian consumers’ rapidly evolving appetites by beefing up their wine selections and making sure they have staff members who are well trained in wine selection.

The four elegant restaurants in the InterContinental hotel on the Hong Kong waterfront, for example, employ two sommeliers each. Among them, they stock 1,700 labels, costing at least $75 a bottle and as much as several thousand United States dollars at the top end, said Christoph Travniczek, a senior manager for food and beverage at the hotel. Guests do still occasionally splash out on wines that cost thousands of United States dollars a bottle. But they “are no longer simply buying whatever is most expensive on the wine list,” Mr. Travniczek said. “They buy what they like, and they listen to the recommendations of the sommeliers.”

China, with nearly 1.4 billion inhabitants, continues to drive global consumption, especially of red wines, which are far more popular in the country than whites. Nearly 1.9 billion bottles of red were consumed in China last year, according to a study commissioned by the organizers of the Vinexpo wine and spirits industry exhibition, which takes place in Hong Kong next month. That is more than twice the amount in 2008. China is also one of the world’s biggest producers of wine, though the quality is for the most part still low.

Wine fans in Hong Kong, mainland China and elsewhere in Asia are also increasingly prepared to invest considerable time and effort in soaking up not just the beverage itself, but also the information that goes into drinking and purchasing decisions.

Calvin Tan caught the wine bug two years ago and has since taken two wine courses, including one at a French wine academy, L’École du Vin de France, which opened an office in Hong Kong in 2011.

“I needed a hobby, and I love drinking and eating good food, so this was perfect,” he said.

Mr. Tan, who works for an American bank in Hong Kong, is not in the market for top wines of the kind sold by Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The most expensive wine he ever had was an Italian red that cost about 800 Hong Kong dollars. But his eagerness to learn and branch out — his favorites now are Riojas and New Zealand pinot noirs — exemplifies the shift that is happening among Asian wine lovers.

“In the beginning, many of those who signed up for our activities knew very little about wine,” said Marjolaine Roblette-Geres, L’École du Vin’s representative in Hong Kong. “Now, many already know quite a lot, and they want to broaden their knowledge,” she said, adding that the school was considering offering classes in Beijing and Guangzhou, in neighboring mainland China.

All this gives wine experts the confidence that Asian buyers will continue to spend big on wines, despite the fading growth momentum in many of the region’s economies. “We still dream of the highs of 2010 and 2011,” said John Kapon, the chief executive of Acker Merrall. “But 2014 got off to a good start, and greater China remains the No. 1 driver of the global market.”