Over 1,200 wines have entered into the last two competitions, China Wine Awards 2011 and China Best Value Wine & Spirits awards 2012 to reach Chinese wine and spirits buyers.
Boutique Californian wine producers, One Acre and Jarvis Winery, have found success in the China market with Greater China’s luxury hotels reeling unique wines based on the tastes of China. Hotels such as Four Seasons Macau and Grand Hyatt Macau have turned to China Wine Awards in search of unique purchases.
Over 1,200 wines have entered into the last two competitions, China Wine Awards 2011 and China Best Value Wine & Spirits awards 2012 to reach Chinese wine and spirits buyers, who are detecting the perfect fit with Californian boutique wines.
“For many buyers, they can look at the results of the awards as a benchmark to start their shortlisting of wines that they may not have heard about or be familiar with. They see that this wine has received the CWA award and will prompt them to try it,” says Claudio Salgado, Grand Hyatt Macau’s hotel manager and CWA judge.
Californian duo, Jared McCall and Darron Padilla from Mijigro Import & Export wines targeted high-end top tier buyers to purchase their boutique wines from California. Entering into the China Best Value Wine & Spirits Awards 2012, had them win not only top scores in the competition, but also an opportunity to reach the right buyers.
“China is our focus market as it has the biggest growth potential. However, some brands we represent can only handle a certain amount of distribution” says Jared McCall of Milagro Import Export, who is representing five boutique Californian wineries in Hong Kong and China.
In May 2012, McCall rang the China Wine Awards team to tell them of their recent success with the Four Seasons hotel.
“We’ve signed a contract with the Four Seasons Macau and they all chose the wines that have won in the China Wine Awards. We laid it all out and each one they chose had won a gold medal,” says McCall.
Another Napa Valley winery, Jarvis Winery, is selling only their most expensive wines to China buyers.
“We are aiming our very top products to the China market because we think they will support these products and they’re getting exclusive to our reserve wines,”winemaker, William Jarvis says.
In the China Wine Awards 2011, Jarvis Winery were the only U.S. winery to receive two gold medals for their 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.
“US wines are viewed as premium wines by Chinese consumers and wholesale buyers, and American wineries now have the chance to establish themselves in the top tier. We are excited to see many U.S. wineries take advantage of this window of opportunity,” says Kelly England, Founder and President of the China Wine Awards.
The China Wine Awards hosts a prized number of judges who are all China based wine and spirits buyers searching for the right wine for their market. Judges have flown in from all over China to take part in the largest competition in China with over 80 judges.
Past judges include buyers from Grand Hyatt Macau, Langham Place Hong Kong, Watson’s Wine Cellar, Open Wine China, Oliver’s, Platinum Wines, Applied Wines, Golden Vintage wines and Wine Hut to name a few.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
