China is flooded with good wine; In 2010, Hong Kong overtook New York as the world’s biggest locale for wine auctions.

January 20, 2011
HONG KONG — Hundreds of bidders pack the ballroom of the posh Mandarin Oriental hotel here, armed with paddles, heaping plates of gourmet food and glasses of wine.
Lot after lot of French Bordeaux and burgundy comes up for auction. Each time, a bidding war breaks out. A case of 1982 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild sells for more than $71,000 U.S., about $6,000 a bottle, well above the estimated price.
“This is exceeding our expectations,” says Jeff Zacharia, president of Zachys, the New York wine auction house that held the event this month. “We have a lot of people from mainland China here today, and they feel the Lafite is the wine to have.”
The scene has become increasingly familiar in Hong Kong as record wine prices, surging imports and sales make this city the high-end wine capital of Asia.
In 2010, Hong Kong overtook New York as the world’s biggest locale for wine auctions. (At a Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction in October, three 1869 bottles of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild sold for a record-breaking $232,692 apiece.) Wine imports to Hong Kong — a gateway for the region — are also setting records. And sales of mid- and low-end wines have been rising since the Hong Kong government eliminated wine taxes in 2008.
In the past two years, wine sales have climbed 13% in Hong Kong even as U.S. and global sales slipped, according to Euromonitor, a research firm. Sales in China and Asia Pacific are rising even faster.
Asia’s explosive wine demand is attracting the attention of producers from the USA to Latin America to Europe, all vying to establish a foothold in this promising market. Over the next 15 years, China, including Hong Kong, could become the top wine-consuming country in the world, according to Vinexpo and International Wine and Spirit Research.
For American winemakers, however, the battle to win over the palate of Asian consumers is likely to be an uphill one. “In America, the culture is freedom and fast food,” says Calvin Lee, 36, who traveled from Guangzhou, China, to attend the Zachys’ wine auction. “They don’t have a long history of food and wine” like the French.
Hong Kong is betting that its reputation as Asia’s wine hub will help bring in more tourists.
Last year, the city’s second annual Wine & Dine festival, which pairs food and wine from around the world, attracted 110,000 people, up 57% from the event held the year before.
“Wine is a growing phenomenon here,” says Bill Flora, U.S. director for the Hong Kong Tourism Board. “The number of wine bars that are opening up in Hong Kong is pretty incredible.”
One of those wine bars, California Vintage, is hoping to change consumers’ perception of American wines. Partly financed by 22 California wineries, it will showcase 88 wines from across the Golden State. Susan Darwin, chief branding officer for California Vintage, says the best way to educate consumers about the quality of American wines is to give them an opportunity to try them.
“Historically, there hasn’t been a strong presentation of California wines in Asia,” Darwin says. “Unless the consumer has a reason to demand them, they’re not going to do so.”
California Vintage plans to open more than 20 wine bars throughout Asia, in places like mainland China, Singapore, Japan and India, within five years.
Other venues in Hong Kong also are starting to promote U.S. wines.
For its first batch of wines, the 3-year-old 8th Estate Winery — Hong Kong’s first urban winery — bought grapes from Washington State to make Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays, among other wines. Most of these 2007 wines sold out quickly, according to Lysanne Tusar, founder of the 8,000-square-foot winery.
The sales were mainly to expats. But over time, Tusar is hoping that Chinese consumers will be open to trying 8th Estate’s wines as well. “Hong Kong will always be brand-conscious,” she says, “but … people are increasingly looking for the diamond in the rough.”
For now, most Chinese in Hong Kong and China drink red rather than white wine. “The red color means good luck, happiness,” explains Joy Huang, a research analyst at Euromonitor.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/2011-01-19-Asiawines19_ST_N.htm

Leading Philippines Wine Supplier Yats Wine Cellars based in Clark Philippines with outlets in Angeles City, Subic Freeport and Manila Philippines has been not only a wine shop for fine wines covering all major wine regions but also a source of reliable and useful information about wine, wine appreciation, wine accessories, wine and health, food and wine pairing and all other matters relating to wine and its appreciation. This Philippines Clark Freeport based Wine Supplier and Wine Shop frequently holds public wine tasting events in Pampana Clark Freeport Zone, Angeles City, Subic Bay area, Makati, Fort Bonifacio and other areas in Philippines capital city Manila. Private Wine events such as private wine tasting and private wine dinners are also designed and organized for private clientele for their wine loving guests.

This wine shop in Angeles Clark Philippines is also renowned for a very unique product called Vintage Beer which many characterize as “Champagne beer” because it comes in a bottle with a Champagne stopper and metal restrainer. Vintage beers are top-of-the-line luxury beers bottle-conditioned for a slow fermentation to take place inside the bottle, a process that is very similar to Champagne which is designed to not only create the bubbles but also for an amazing complexity and depth of flavors.

For fans of Port and Sauternes, this wine shop in Clark Pampanga has a large selection of vintage port, Sauternes and Barsac as well as Eiswein/Icewine from Austria and Germany. Likewise, there is a good selection of Vintage Champagne at the wine shoppers’ disposal in the cellars of this wine shop in Clark Pampanga.

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.

For inquires and reservations, contact us here

Clark Wine Center
Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building
Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,
Angeles Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023
0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)

Wine@Yats-International.com

YATS Wine Cellars
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 ask for Rea or Chay

Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center. Visitors buy wine in Manila and Pampanga should not miss stopping at this wine shop for a few bottles of fine vintage wines to bring home.