A Portuguese Orient Express – HONG KONG

On a modern day Sino-Luso vinous encounter last month we joined a group of Portuguese winemakers embarked on an epic journey to Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong, to showcase Portuguese wines to the booming Chinese market. This is the 3rd and last post.

Following Beijing and  Shanghai, the winemakers group moved on to Hong Kong for Vinexpo Asia-Pacific 2010, where Cortes de Cima participated for the first time in this biannual fair in it’s 3rd edition.

“More than 880 exhibitors from 32 different countries greeted 12,000 visitors over three days, a 40 percent attendance increase from 2008.  Two years ago, during the trade show’s last visit to Asia, producers and industry members were still exploring how to get their feet wet in the Chinese market. This time, there was a gold rush atmosphere as startup Chinese firms scrambled to make deals with wineries and merchants.  The energy inside the show was a result of the rapidly expanding market—according to Vinexpo, total wine consumption in the region is increasing four times faster than the world average.” – Wine Spectator.

We could most definitely feel that buzz of activity and energy, as buyers and exhibitors jostled for attention during the 3 non-stop days! It was hard to find a free moment from pouring and chatting with well-informed and interested sommeliers, educators, distributors, importers and others from the Asian wine trade. One Vinexpo highlight was finally meeting in person the lovely and highly talented MW Debra Meiburg, hitherto we had only been Facebook friends!

During Vinexpo, Viniportugal organized a Touriga seminar, pouring a few examples of this Portuguese grape variety, including our 5 time gold medal winning Touriga Nacional 2005 (including the IWC 2008 Alentejan and Portuguese Red Wine Trophies).

Winemaker Tersina Shieh, gave us a pleasant surprise when she dropped by our stand. We last met Tersina here at Cortes de Cima, when she gave a helping hand out in the cellar for a spell, a few vintages ago. Tersina has now teamed up with Simon Tam and together they are wine consultants running the Independent Wine Centre, a contemporary tasting and education centre based in Hong Kong. So many exciting things happening in the Hong Kong wine world! I’m already looking forward to the next Vinexpo Asia 2012!