Christie's head of wine for China, Simon Tam, noted that the auction house has offered wines from Premiere Napa Valley annually for 20 years, but bringing the event to its Asia auction gallery for the first time reflects the strength and maturity of the market here.
"China has a long culture of white spirits, but grape wine is comparatively new," Tam tells China Daily. "Our clients here have been eager to experience the wine lifestyle, and very quick to learn."
Noting that Hong Kong's wine culture took off after 2008 in the wake of attractive new tax policies, he says Christie's wine clients are now as likely to come from the Chinese mainland as from the SAR island.
"More important," he says, "wine has proved itself to be a truly international language. There is no longer a cultural divide between East and West as far as wine is concerned."
While red wines still dominate the Chinese market, Tam says that whites are starting to catch up. "That's especially true in southern China, where cuisines are lighter and often favor sweet dishes and seafood that invite pairing with crisp white vintages."
Auctions of rare bottles have become a significant part of Asia's recent wine story.
"Like in any other developed wine market," he says, "traders will invest in these wines for their resale value later. And private collectors want them because they know these wines may not be around later when they want to drink them."
