watson's grand tasting - hong kong 07 november 2007

The first impression alexandre had as we entered the marriot ballroom was "wow".  not because of the number of producers who were there to promote their wines (60), neither because of the quantity of wine that was on offer to taste (400) but because he was surprised with the number of people who were already there 40 minutes into the tasting.

alexandre is visiting from montreal where the wine culture has been firmly and steadily increasing in the last 2 decades.  he was right to be surprised as the wine culture here in hong kong is only really its in infancy.

 

of course you have heard of deep pockets who buy fine wine at astronomical prices and in large enough quantities to make you stop to contemplate.

what is relatively recent is the interest for wine shown by an increasingly curious middle-class who is experimenting with, and liking, foreign food and wine.

having spent 15 years already, i can certainly feel hong kong is about to explode in terms of food & wine development and i am extremely optimistic that tomorrow will be better than today.

last night's tasting was interesting in that it was organised by a single wholesaler (watson's wine cellars) and was so well supported by producers from just about every important wine regions of the world

if other distributors take heed to last night's success, i am certainly looking forward to great things to come!