Business Life: "Imported Wine-an imported lifestyle?"

cctv.com 09-29-2003 11:34

China has a long history of wine making, just like some other countries such as France. However, the wine and drinking culture here is quite different. Interestingly, China started to import wine as early as the 19th century. Hennessy XO, for instance, was available in China in 1871. In today's Business Life, we will look into an emerging lifestyle trend across the country - the popularity of imported wine, including spirits and grape wine.

In this particular context, imported wine includes spirits and grape wine.

Different art forms seem to share common features. Considered to be an architectural art piece, "Commune by The Great Wall' is nestled in historical relics, an estate that embraces the quintessence of nature. In recognition of Richard Hennessy's vision and dedication, the "Richard Hennessy Cognac 2003 Tribute" has been awarded to the owner of the commune, Ms Zhang Xin, for her interpretation of the respect for heritage and culture, pursuit for perfection and care for quality.

Since its establishment in 1765, Hennessy has maintained the reputation of producing the world's top cognacs. In 2001, Hennessy broke the record of 35 million bottles in sales worldwide. Ranging from VSOP, the balance and harmony, to Richard Hennessy, the homage to excellence, Hennessy represents an image of best quality and good life. It's surprising, though, that the first deliveries of the X.O. to Shanghai, China, were made as early as 1871.

Imported wine was once treated as a luxury item that was reserved only for the nobles and high-ranking officials. However, with rising living standards, and a desire for better life, it has already become a part of life of modern Chinese, as an icon of fashion and trend.

The sales of the Hennessy show the consumption pattern of spirits in the country. Hennessy has hundreds of sales spots in pubs, nightclubs, restaurants, and big department stores in Shanghai. The price of its five grades ranges from 300 to over 10,000 RMB.

Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy of France and UDV of England jointly established Riche Monde, the exclusive distributor of Hennessy in China. Its range of products includes Hennessy cognacs, Johnnie Walker Whiskies, and Moet&Chandon champagne. Riche Monde is promoting Hennessy to 26 cities across the country.

It's a tradition of China's north to drink white alcoholic spirits, while people in the east prefer rice wine. According to Zhang, the success of the distribution of imported wine depends on one effort, which the company has never ignored; that is to offer as many opportunities as it can for the local people to try and taste Hennessy.

However, a large number of Chinese start to know about imported wine from grape wine, for they think it is good for health. Due to its increasing popularity, the sales of grape wine have gone up significantly.

ASC Fine Wines, established six years ago, claims to provide quality grape wine at affordable price in China. It handles every aspect of the wine business, from import to sales and marketing. During the past three years, ASC sales have grown at an annual rate of over 50 percent.

At restaurants like this one in Beijing, around ten bottles of wine is sold on one evening, with mid-range wines selling more. Now wine drinking for business people in China is not just a matter of personal taste, but more of a way to socialize with their partners.

Lian Yingjie, Senior Supervisor of South Beauty Restaurant, said, "We sell mainly grape wine from France, Australia, South Africa and Spain. Wine from Bordeaux, France is sold best. Dry red wine amounts to eighty percent of red wine consumption at our restaurant, which is really getting popular today. Also, there are many people these days who know about wine and wine drinking."

As an early exporter of wine to China, and one of the ambitious investors in wine making in the country, France is now looking for larger presence.

Initiated by the then Chinese vice-Premier Wen Jiabao during his visit to France in 1997, Sino-French wine making experiment farm is collaboration between the two governments. All of the machinery and plants are imported from France, and French experts supervise every step of production. This gives a chance to the Chinese wine makers to learn the essence of wine making from their French counterparts.

Li Demei, Engineer-in-chief of Sino-French Diheng Wine Co., Ltd., said, "What we need to learn is to pay careful attention to every step, from plantation, harvesting, wine treatment, to sales and marketing. I believe our wine quality will definitely improve."

Some argue that China is not gifted with the right soil and climate for producing the best quality grape, so it'll heavily dependent on imports of wine, while others disagree. Whatever is the case, imported wine is getting more popular among Chinese, which indicates a potentially growing market for investors.

Editor:Zhang Wenjie  Source:CCTV.com