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…more on Hong Kong

By May 30, 2008Fine Wine Market

China-hong-kong

For those wondering if the fine wine fever that has seemingly gripped Hong Kong following the end of import duty on wine is just a passing fad, this story on Bloomberg would suggest not. 

May has been a busy month for those involved in Hong Kong's burgeoning wine market. As we mentioned in the previous post, Vinexpo was held in Hong Kong earlier this week and a large Acker auction expected to realise $6 million is being held tomorrow. What's more, Robert Parker himself is currently in the middle of an Asian trip (visiting Korea, Hong Kong, China and Japan). The region has certainly made an impression, as the post he made on his bulletin board shows.

"Coming up on nearly two weeks in Asia…in many ways the most exciting trip of a lifetime filled with exceptional events…The Great Wall was No#1 on my BUCKET list…and it was a memory for the ages…ambiance…in Seoul now…the energy..the interest …the passion…the thirst for knowledge is exhilarating….today I had a press conference here…again enormous enthusiasm.

"Two big gala tastings tomorrow and Friday….but I am impressed…Shanghai is the 2007 version of the city in Bladerunner..perhaps the most amazing big city(16 million) I have ever seen….Beijing even more enormous in scale (18 million, and at times it seemed as if I gave each of them my autograph)….the Bird's Nest stadium…Forbidden City…Summer Palace…just remarkable destinations…..and I have eaten and drunk better than any Asian Emperor ever did… Asia Rules….and then some.

"After about 20 or so major dinners and tastings all I have seen in three totally different Asian cultures is exceptional passion and a demand for credible information for all types of wine…the only coke and ice cubes I have seen are when my daughter abstains from drinking wine….the silly western-originated urban legend's [regarding Lafite being mixed with coke] is just one more myth that should die a quick death…