A Toast to Hong Kong's Rise in Wine World

Hong Kong and wines don't necessarily have a lot of intersecting properties in between. However, recent news releases shows that Hong Kong may be a player in the wine industry despite its lack of vineyards, a traditional sign of a burgeoning wine.

CNN's Pauline Chou recently featured a local winery called 8th Estate located in the south of Hong Kong island which perplexed even the top.

Wine imports to Hong Kong rose by more than 40 per cent in the first eight months of the year as the city pushed forward in its bid to become Asia's wine hub, financial secretary John Tsang said Wednesday. The value of imports reached 2.9 billion Hong Kong dollars (374 million US dollars) between January and August - a 42-per-cent increase on the same period last year. This raised Hong Kong's status to potentially dislodge London as the world's second biggest center for wine auction; New York is perched in the top.

Such turnaround may have started when Tsang abolished all wine duties in his budget last year as the first step towards becoming the wine trade center of Asia.

With great interest, Vinfolio, a reputable fine wine source, announced its expansion into Asian market with the launch of its ecommerce site www.vinfolio.hk.

Surely, events like HKTDC's wine fair receives a shot in the arm in terms of promotion and interest from local and foreign wine lovers alike.

Cheers!

Photo credit: cfwphotography