Page 23 - Sphere No.28 (Mar 2011)

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Sphere
Watson’s Wine has
substantially increased
its retail presence, with
the opening of five new shops,
including one in Shanghai.
According to the latest study conducted by International
Wine and Spirit Research (IWSR) for the wine and spirits
trade fair organiser, Vinexpo, from 2004 to 2008 China’s
consumption of wine almost doubled, increasing by 80 per
cent.
Between 2009 and 2013 consumption is projected to
increase by 31.58 per cent to reach 1.26 billion bottles – a
figure almost equivalent to one bottle annually per capita
for the entire population of the country.
China is now the eighth largest consumer of wine in the
world, and by 2013 is expected to rank seventh, with annual
consumption of more than 100 million nine-litre cases.
Not only has the country suddenly become the focus
of attention for wine producers all over the world, but the
sheer scale and scope of the Chinese market has raised the
importance of wine exports as a national priority. President
Obama himself has said that he wants to see US exports of
wine to China double within five years.
Australia, which currently ranks second only to France
as a supplier to China, doubled exports to 46 million litres
in 2009-2010, and China is now the biggest export market
for Bordeaux outside Europe – partly due to a contraction
in the UK and US markets during financially hard times,
but also to phenomenal sustained growth in consumption
in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Wine appreciation is an area in which China has fol-
lowed Hong Kong’s lead. The city now ranks as the leading
wine market in Asia with annual per capita consumption
of 3.6 litres among residents of legal drinking age. This puts
Hong Kong significantly ahead of both Japan and Singa-
pore, the other most mature markets in
the region, where per capita consumption is 2.5 litres
and 2.1 litres per year respectively.
It is fair to say that Watson’s Wine has been one of the
most important contributors to building Hong Kong’s wine
culture. Moving from its initial market position as a wine
merchant covering all price points to its present role as
a supplier of fine wines, mostly priced at above HKD200
(USD25.60) per bottle, Watson’s is now the city’s largest
specialist wine merchant with a steadily expanding presence
in Hong Kong, Macau and now Mainland China. An excel-
lent range of more modestly priced wines, some previously
carried by Watson’s, is available from PARKnSHOP.
Wine consumption in Hong Kong increased by 75.9 per
cent between 2004 and 2008, and the Vinexpo/IWSR study
forecasts that growth will be around 70.8 per cent between
2009 and 2013, reaching 4.793 million nine-litre cases, the
equivalent of 57.5 million bottles.
The market received a huge boost when wine tax was
reduced to zero in the 2008 budget, and the Hong Kong
Government announced its intention to establish the city as
“the wine hub of Asia”. It has since overtaken London as the
world’s second most important city for fine wine auctions,
and looks set to surpass New York. In value terms, wine
consumption in Hong Kong in 2010 surged 72 per cent over