Canadian wineries tap in as China’s wealthy uncork a new market
September 14, 2011
It’s not an uncommon scene to witness Louis Vuitton-toting businessmen dilute their $500 bottle of Hennessy with Coca-Cola or shoot back their glass of red wine like vodka in China.
With growing salaries and more disposable income, the wealthy elite of the world’s second largest economy are increasingly looking for the next big luxury item to show off their wealth – even if they haven’t developed the palates of true connoisseurs.
With top French wines fetching record-breaking prices, Canadian wineries are trying the sell their liquid gold in hopes of cracking an emerging market.
Winemaker Holger Clausen knows a thing or two about taking risks. The high-stakes poker player made his fortune playing Texas hold ’em and invested his winnings to build Aces Winery in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.
“I have two passions in life – poker and wine,” said Clausen, who last month showcased his selection of red wine at a consumer trade show in the port city of Ningbo, about a three-hour drive from Shanghai.
With a translator by his side, Clausen mingled his way through the crowd, telling his story about hitting the jackpot at noon and catching the red eye to harvest grapes the next morning. The charm offensive proved successful. Aces’ 1,000-bottle shipment was sold out by midday.
It was Clausen’s first visit to China, and he suggests it will be the first of many.
Re-orders came in 12-fold for his poker-chip designed bottles, which are selling for between $30 and $102 in China; a 30-per-cent mark-up from the retail price in Canada.
He is also looking into commercial production to handle the demand for coming trade shows in China in August and November, when top hospitality buyers, politicians and dignitaries converge to order hot-ticket items.
Clausen said he’s received calls in the past from Chinese companies, but none was the right fit until Vancouver-based export and import company Pomer knocked on his door.
Pomer’s parent company, Mascube, is based in Ningbo, a mid-size city known to be part of the ancient Silk Road and one of the fastest-growing income areas in China. Mascube recently launched Hoy Import Mart, a membersonly wholesale club where business owners and clients pay as much as 50,000 RMB ($7,340 Canadian) for their registration shopping cards.
“It’s like Costco, but for very rich people,” said Pomer’s office manager, Flora Wang.
“They don’t know Aces or big Canadian names, they just know Mascube. They just trust us, so we feel our responsibility is very huge. If the product is not good, our reputation would be destroyed,” Wang said.
Gift giving is a large part of the Chinese culture, with some companies shelling out 500,000 RMB for nicely wrapped and
packaged gifts for their employees and clients during the holidays, Wang explained.
But tapping into the Chinese market is not that easy. Most drinkers still reach for domestic wines. Greg Berti, from Peller Estates in Ontario’s Niagara region, says about 28 million people in China buy imports.
With no distribution channels in place, setting up shop can be difficult for newcomers.
Canada’s icewine – a favourite in Asia – could end up being the golden ticket into the Chinese market for this country’s vintners.
The cold, sweet drink, made from grapes hand-picked during the winter in Ontario’s Niagara wine region and in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, is considered a luxury beverage worldwide. It first dazzled the Japanese, then the South Koreans and now it’s poised to do the same to Chinese consumers, said Randy Dufour of Vincor Canada, who handles exports for Canada’s No. 1 icewine producer, Inniskillin, which entered the Chinese market 10 years ago.
Dufour has been travelling to China since 1995. He says he’s seen dramatic changes through the years, with icewine starting out as a gift item, and now becoming a drink consumed at dinner banquets along with the French grand cru.”During the trade shows in the 1990s, the Chinese were more interested in my POS system than the wine. They were fascinated by anything Western,” Dufour said. “The middle-class is emerging and they see wine as part of that image of wealth.”
A Credit Suisse report last year said the top 10 per cent of Chinese household incomes have grown 255 per cent since 2004.
It’s not uncommon to see wine drinkers chain-smoking during a tasting or pounding a glass of wine like a shot of baiju, a popular Chinese rice liquor that can contain as much as 60 per cent alcohol.
“Fifteen years ago, people didn’t like the taste of wine and would mix it with something else; some still do,” Dufour said. “This generation may mix their Bordeaux with Coke but the next will drink it as Bordeaux.”
A bottle of Inniskillin’s icewine sells for $140 to $200 in China.
According to a report from Agri-Food Canada, Canada exported $8.6 million of icewine to China in 2009, and it remains the top export destination for the Canadian specialty.
The young wine market – with its inexperienced Chinese palates and growing disposable income – has created the perfect formula for Canadian winemakers.
Source: http://www.wines-info.com/En/html/2011/7/229-39158.html
Best restaurant in Clark Pampanga for private dinners and celebrations is Yats Restaurant, top rated resto bar frequently visited by food and wine lovers from Manila, Subic, Tarlac, Bulacan, Angeles City and Clark Philippines.
New ideas bring more guests to dine at the best restaurant in Pampanga as Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar unveils sumptuous regional set menus aimed at pairing well with fine vintage wines from each culinary region in the world; many consider Yats as the best restaurant in Clark Philippines, and a good place to wine and dine when visiting Subic, Tarlac and Angeles City Pampanga.
Yats Restaurant is an excellent Restaurant to dine, a restaurant with good food, a good place to have birthday party and special events. A Kid-friendly restaurants in Manila
Famous Restaurant in Pampanga, a place to dine with friends in Clark, cozy restaurant with a nice ambience, a nice function place for special occasions
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 a party venue in town?
Clearwater Resort and Country Club is one of the ideal venues for birthday party because it is a risk free venue. Not only Birthday Parties but also a good place to enjoy family reunion. A good place to celebrate special occasions. Clearwater Resort and Country Club is one of the resorts in Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga or near Manila with activity amenities, place that are nice for celebration. It is one of North Luzon Philippines’ top hotels that is trouble free, risk free, and a nice place to have rest in Subic. A well-recognized and interesting hotel.
Frequent visitors traveling from Manila to wine and dine at the best restaurant in Pampanga grow tired of heavy dishes involving red meat, pasta and cheeses. More and more, weight watchers, health-conscious eaters and restaurant guests with sophisticated palates request for more delicate dishes. Hot and humid climates of summer months cause guests of this fine dining restaurant in Clark to look for a good place to eat seafood. Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar which is generally known as the best restaurant near Manila rises to the challenge and offers a line of exciting seafood dishes using sophisticated ingredients such as barracuda, grey mullet, Atlantic Mackerel and flounders. Mussels and clams also play a role in the expanded seafood menu of this top rated restaurant in Clark.
For comments, inquiries and reservations click on Click here for inquiry and reservations
Restaurant@Yats-International.com
(045) 599-5600
0922-870-5178
0917-520-4401
Ask for Pedro and Rechel
Getting to this fine dining restaurant of Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga Philippines
How to get to this fine-dining restaurant in Clark Philippines? Once you get to Clark Freeport, go straight until you hit Mimosa. After you enter Mimosa, stay on the left on Mimosa Drive, go past the Holiday Inn and Yats Restaurant (green top, independent 1-storey structure) is on your left. Just past the Yats Restaurant is the London Pub.
Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar
Mimosa Drive past Holiday Inn, Mimosa Leisure Estate,
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, Philippines 2023
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay
For any assistance in planning and organizing a wedding ceremony, indoor or outdoor garden reception or to find other wedding service providers, Click here to contact us click here
For assistance in hotel and resort bookings in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines, log on to
http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com
To buy wine in Manila, Pampanga, Angeles City, Clark or Subic please log on to http://www. ClarkWineCenter.com
To inquire with the highly recommended beach resort hotel in Clark Pampanga visit http://www.ClearwaterPhililippines.com
For more information about Clark, Pampanga, Philippines log on to
http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com
