Wine Auctions & Tasting Events Set To Give Hong Kong Aficionados Plenty Of Options#
Nearly every winery with ambitions of reaching China's hundreds of millions of potential wine drinkers has flocked to Hong Kong over the past year to talk shop with the top players, find new customers, and promote their products following the Hong Kong government's decision to drop tariffs on wine imports. Along with the flood of wine producers, naturally, has been a rash of events in the city designed to publicize wine appreciation and cultivate the new generation of wine aficionados both in Hong Kong and in Mainland China. This fall, several large-scale events are set to take place to reach the burgeoning Chinese wine drinker, most of them due to take place in Hong Kong, mainly because of the city's existing consumer base but also because it has -- in the last several months -- gained the title of world's largest wine market. With the huge success of the Sotheby's autumn wine sale earlier this month and the coming Christie's wine auction, wine lovers in Hong Kong have most certainly found themselves at the center of all the action.
Some of the most exciting wine events set to place this fall in Hong Kong:
2nd Annual Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (November 4-6)#
Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
This event, coinciding with Hong Kong Food & Wine Year and featuring France as the partner country, will include nearly 500 exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions. Hailing from Argentina, Australia, the Chinese mainland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Moldova, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Slovenia, Uruguay and the United States, this year's fair features nearly twice as many exhibitors as last year's, which was visited by almost 9,000 trade buyers from 55 countries and regions, according to the event's organizer.
Open to the public on the first day, the event will feature wine-tasting sessions and master classes, wine auctions, seminars, and representatives from the Wine Industry Conference on hand to help attendees find their perfect wine. In addition, as France is this year's partner country, there will be a French pavilion coordinated by Sopexa, the marketing arm of France’s Ministry of Agriculture, presenting wines from Burgundy, St. Emilion, Alsace, Bordeaux and Lyon.
Spectrum's Auction of the Aubrey McClendon Collection (November 22)#
St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, Dana Point, California; Simulcast in Hong Kong
Although this wine auction doesn't physically take place in Hong Kong, you can bet Hong Kong's wine-collecting elite will be watching, as the event will be simulcast in Hong Kong at 9:00 AM on November 22. Up for grabs are more than 3,000 bottles from the collection of Chesapeake Energy Corp. co-founder Aubrey McClendon, including two bottles of 1945 Latour, a full original wood case of 1959 Lafite Rothschild, three bottles of 1959 Petrus, and 26 bottles of 1959 Haut Brion.
Christie's Hong Kong: Finest & Rarest Wines Auction (November 28)#
Grand Hall, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Following the successes of Christie’s Hong Kong wine sales in November 2008 and May 2009, Christie's will once again offer an outstanding range of superb wines from the world's classic wine-producing regions with Finest & Rarest Wines on November 28 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.
As the international leader of fine wine at auction, the November 28 sale of Finest & Rarest Wines will offer collectors some the very best wines currently available on the market - a selection that stands apart from offerings at other auction houses this season with its focus on quality and condition. The sale will cater to Asia’s elite wine connoisseurs with its extensive range of superb Bordeaux from such landmark vintages as 1982, 1989, 1990, 2000 and 2005 and a substantial collection of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Henri Jayer wines. The sale will also feature very rare full case lots from two pristine European private collections – a rarity on the auction market in Asia and an opportunity that new and established collectors will not want to miss.
Complimenting these offerings will be other rare Bordeaux, Burgundy, and finest quality vintage Champagnes, sourced from ‘one-owner’ collections, offering the Asian market a rare opportunity to acquire the finest wines with superlative provenance.
Bacchus&Century's "100 Consecutive Years of French Vintage Wines" Event (December TBA)#
Bacchus&Century, 32 Wyndham Street, Shop 3 (Ground Floor)
Lan Kwai Fong Central
Bacchus&Century is set to celebrate the opening of their new location in Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong Central with an event designed to, as they put it, "bridge the gap" that exists in the Hong Kong wine market between buyers -- who might not know much about wine but have a deep interest in it -- and sellers, who often fail to attend to their customers' individual needs. This December event will focus on three core offerings, "20th Century French Wine" (which includes at least one bottle of vintage from every year of the 20th century for sale), "Iconic French Wines," the "creme de la creme" of French wine, partitioned in its own section for discerning customers, and "Champagne," focusing only on Presige cuvee. A must-attend event for lovers of French wines.