A Wine label for the Chinese market (May 20, 2010)

Clark Wine Center is pleased to relay interesting news and articles about wine to you on this web site.  We hope that this will enhance your wine shopping experience when you visit this wine shop in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone.

Exporting wine to China is not an easy task. Wine producers meet difficulties such as the language barrier, differences in eating habits, ignorance of the local market, particularities of Chinese business and problems with creating wine labels. Our wine growers know how difficult it is to sell wine when there is such a large barrier between French and Chinese: they often forget that the Chinese really need to “read” our wine labels despite this barrier. Hence the importance of going beyond the legal requirements and creating or adapting wine labels designed for the Chinese market.

What are they looking for? They are looking for a reflection of the image of France- a symbol of luxury, elegance and excellence. Wine labels should fit in with the dreams of Chinese people who love history, old chateaus and estates, old vines, villages with church steeples… basically everything the Chinese dream of but don’t have themselves.

What do they want? They want to find a wine sales pitch for their own clients and they need stories to tell. They also combine French wine with the Chinese system of colors. Wine is red, and so much the better! Red is the lucky color in China for celebrations and joyful occasions.

What do they see through the wine label? They want to see the old France and remain ignorant of our modernized methods of working. Remember that the Chinese are a particular kind of client (inexpert): the spirit of the wine label should have a greater value than that of the content. In China we often see bottom of the range wines with carefully made, magnificent labels. Otherwise wine consumers may not pick up the bottle. In general, they trust French wines which have a good reputation for quality. They also hope to get closer to our way of life through a little wine label…

I notice on my business trips that clients lean towards wine bottles with labels that are generous (large format), joyful (warm and golden colors) and elegant (antique style). On the other hand they stay away from bottles with no illustrations or which have too inconspicuous an image. You also have to know that buying a bottle of French wine in China remains a great luxury for most consumers. When they get hold of a pretty bottle, many of them keep even empty wine bottles as souvenirs.

To wine sellers who would like to try their hand at the Chinese market, I recommend that you emphasise your histories, terroirs and passions on your wine labels. The Chinese will appreciate your efforts at communication. “But the Chinese don’t speak French!” That’s true but they will be able to decode your message through the wine labels. We have to make the effort to create wine labels that help them to better understand our products. After all, we have more stories to tell than wine producers from the New World!

Be proud of your classic and traditional wine labels and take note that it is possible to adapt your old labels by adding an extra stripe or changing the shape of the label or the colours in order to appeal to the Chinese without necessarily turning everything upside down.

Calligraphy, founding dates of wine cellars, serial numbers for a good vintage, personalised signatures from producers, these are all interesting and attractive details to the Chinese.

Since the first wines were imported from Bordeaux, the Chinese consider the Bordeaux style to be a touchstone, while other regions have not (yet) managed to impose their own style of wine labeling.

In your adaptations, remember a few numbers to avoid, notably number 4 (“si” in Chinese with the same pronunciation as “death”) and 250 (“er bai wu”, which means “idiot” in colloquial language).

Equally, you may already know that white should be avoided, as it is associated with mourning. Take note also that the colour green is associated with the green eyes of the devil, or with green products (organic, fruit and vegetables, cosmetics) and does not lend well to associations with wine.

Clark Wine Center was built in 2003 by Hong Kong-based Yats International Leisure Philippines to become the largest wine shop in Philippines supplying Asia’s wine lovers with fine vintage wines at attractive prices.  Today, this wine shop in Clark Philippines offers over 2000 selections of fine wines from all major wine regions in the world.  As a leading wine supplier in Philippines, Pampanga’s Clark Wine Center offers an incomparable breadth of vintages, wines from back vintages spanning over 50 years.  Clark Wine Center is located in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone adjacent to Angeles City, just 25 minutes from Subic and 45 minutes from Manila.

Wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Alsace, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Argentina etc. are well represented in this Clark Wine Shop.

For more information, email Wine@Yats-International.com or visit http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila

Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple:  after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave.  From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City.  From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.