China has become the no. 1 export market for Bordeaux

Yup.
China was recently seen (feared?) as the bogeyman, the 800-pound gorilla.
And one that was thought by many to be mostly imaginary...

But the figures are there, published in today's Sud-Ouest:
http://www.sudouest.fr/2011/01/04/expor ... 31-789.php

In one year, from November 2009 to the 31st of October 2010, China (including Hong Kong) imported 251,000 hectolitres of wine worth 333 million euros.

Forget the stories about Lafite and Les Carruades. The Chinese market is about so much more than that! They are bringing in an ocean of Bordeaux, overtaking the UK, the US, Germany, and every other foreign market (exports account for 1/3 of total Bordeaux output).

Furthermore, Hong Kong is becoming a platform for all of Asia.
Westerners are going through a recession? Well, it seems as though there is a ready and willing market in China to take up much of the slack. This outlet was viewed as "hypothetical, at best", by many sceptics.
They have been proved wrong.

The article points out the problem with counterfeit wine, helped by the fact that few Chinese can read Latin alphabets.

Best regards,
Alex R.

Does anyone here know how far mature bottles of Bordeaux are finding their way to China via the auction houses and brokers like Farr Vintners? They are paying astronomical sums for young Bordeaux and, in a logical world, would be laying these down for the future having discovered for themselves how beautiful the wines can become after appropriate ageing.

It hurts me to think of Chinese billionaires quaffing, say, 2005s at least ten years before they get into their stride.

The article link doesn't work.

It hurts me to think of Chinese billionaires quaffing, say, 2005s at least ten years before they get into their stride.

I’m aware that this could hurt us as much as them, but even as I hate to use the phrase “it’s their money and their wine”, there is still a potential for a higher level of drinking sophistication, if I may use that term, by the Chinese, given some recent exchanges of information with a couple of Chinese contacts, revealing that….

1. They have personally moved some of their money in wine investments and businesses

2. As Alex had posted above, they are buying into low-cost stuff that we don’t buy here in the States, including lots of products from small, unheard-of, wineries in the Cote-de-Blaye, Fronsac, Cote-de-Castillon and many other satellite areas. In other words, it’s not just your “Chinese billionaires” that are being enchanted by our Bordeaux passion. There is a large potential that they, Chinese billionaires/non-billionaires, will be better appreciative of the whole of Bordeaux than us because they are dabbling into the other 80% of Bordeaux that we don’t bother to get here in the States.

3. That they have started to become personally appreciative of mature wines and have dipped their money on going after older vintages and have gone beyond just (gasp!) Ch. Lafite in auctions in the Far East and in the the US through their local representatives.

I know that I have no data, but I’m just stating what I hear from within.

The article link doesn't work.

+1, I 'd love to read this though.

Salil,

Here's the link again. I hope it doesn't become truncated this time: http://www.sudouest.fr/2011/01/04/expor ... 31-789.php

Ramon,

I think that Tim stated it very well:

"... they are buying into low-cost stuff that we don’t buy here in the States, including lots of products from small, unheard-of, wineries in the Cote-de-Blaye, Fronsac, Cote-de-Castillon and many other satellite areas. In other words, it’s not just your “Chinese billionaires” that are being enchanted by our Bordeaux passion. There is a large potential that they, Chinese billionaires/non-billionaires, will be better appreciative of the whole of Bordeaux than us because they are dabbling into the other 80% of Bordeaux that we don’t bother to get here in the States".

This increased sense of perspective will make them appreciate the great growths (5% of production) even more than people who drink only that category of Bordeaux.

Also, when Americans started going into fine wine in a big way, the same comments were made about "inappropriate" food and ways of enjoying the wine...

Could this be sour grapes?
If the Chinese are not connoisseurs yet, apparently their ranks are swelling. Quickly.

Best regards,
Alex R.

Basic economics: if they have the money and are willing to pay the price for it, it is not too high a price. Basic economics rarely consider the hurt feelings of people from America (strange as that may seem).

The Chinese aren't sophisticated enough to appreciate Bordeaux? Um, doesn't that sound a bit condescending to those heathen Chinee...who just now happen to have the most dynamic economy going?

I suspect the Bordelais will be just as happy to sell their over-priced wines to the Chinese as they have been to sell them to the Brits and the Americans. And now the Americans can sniff at the Chinese in the same way the Brits sniffed at the upstart and unsophisticated Americans.

Basic economics: if they have the money and are willing to pay the price for it, it is not too high a price. Basic economics rarely consider the hurt feelings of people from America (strange as that may seem).

I think Tim's point goes beyond just "hurt feelings" and basic economics.

Although, as I pointed out in my earlier response, that there is very strong possiblility that the Chinese will become more sophisticated drinkers than we are, Tim may be pointing out that the potential problem with drinking Bordeaux at an earlier than optimal age by the NEW consumers is that that it might transform Bordeaux wine-making into "let's produce something/anything because they'll drink 'em now anyway", rather than the vin-de-gard approach that most Bordeaux purists adhere to. However, as I'd like to repeat my theory, this is quite unlikely.

Biggest surprise to me was that Germany was previously #1 market. Although it makes sense- large population, fairly prosperous,etc I just never thought of it.

Some comments from Farr here:
http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a20110103.html

I'm glad to see that some satellite appellations are getting some of the love!

Of course, if trends continue probably means me drinking less Bordeaux, but there's plenty of other wines.

Ramon, I think Tim's post goes beyond those points as well. My post wasn't directly pointed at Tim, but at some of the general comments made. As Alex mentioned, when the upstart Americans began to do what the Chinese are doing now, many of the same things were said; many of the same emotions were expressed. Then, for a while, the Japanese. But their economic troubles truncated that.

Hoke: Thanks for clarifying ... and I can't say that I disagree with you.

I'm glad to see that some satellite appellations are getting some of the love!

I know that I can get flak for this, but while my sources tell me that a lot of satellite stuff are making their way to China, this can also be just due to the "fist-timer excitement factor" and that when they figure out and able to sort out the goods from the bads, the 20%-80% dichotomy that we currently have in the States will follow suit. The moral of the story: those satellite wine producers better shape up with the stuff they ship to China if they don't want to become 1-hit Wonders.

With the drop off of Calif exports because of the economy some folks are starting to look at China as The Next Big Thing.
I believe the last numbers I saw were France had half the import business; the U.S. had 5%.