High prices and low stock levels put a damper on Asia's hunger for wine

Négociants in Bordeaux agree that they were “very disappointed” that the champagnes were basically “not worth it” and that they felt like they had “not moved forward” at all compared to the increased sales in the past few years.

“I really cannot say that the Asian markets bought out our 2009 vintages – this was and remains a dream of our winemakers”, says Laurent Ehrmann, Manager of the Bordeaux Négociant Barriere Freres. Nick Pegna, Managing Director of Berry Bros & Rudd Hong Kong, says: “The demand is still there, we can see that in the sales plus, however, the Chinese will not simply buy any wine, much less for any given price. It is exactly the high prices and the low availability due to lower production amounts of the 2009 vintage that put a damper on the market”.

China's indifference to buying wine does not so much affect wines of older vintages, rare or top wines, but rather wines of a younger and the latest vintages, particularly they do not seem to like the en-Primeur-wines. In addition, they believe that young wines will not survive the current stocking conditions in China. Thus, there has been and still is cases where complete container loads will get damaged through the heat. “We need time to sell these new wines, which means that we have to store them first”, explains Nick Pegna. “In terms of en Primeur, the question is not whether China understands it, but rather when it will finally find trust in the system.”(aw.yoopress)