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Burgundy eyes Asian market share
After a successful auction at the Hospices de Beaune, Burgundian producers have made it clear they want a greater presence in Asia.
Pierre-Henry Gagey, co-president of the Bureau Interprofessionnel de Vins de Bourgogne (BIVB), announced a budget of €400,000 to help “conquer” the expanding far eastern market.
He said that it was time for Burgundy to start gaining a foothold before the arrival of New World wines. He also pointed out that while the very top Bordeaux’s were still China’s main focus there was also a lot cheaper Bordeaux on the market.
The gap he identified was the €8-10 bracket, which he described as being where, “the future, the real potential in China,” lay.
Gagay criticised the Bordelais for using China to drain its wine lake saying that the emphasis should always be on quality and reflecting the terroir, which was impossible to achieve at €3.
Not that Burgundy would be staking everything on the East and he claimed that its producers had no wish to see prices climb as high as they have for Bordeaux saying that it only precipitated a “hard landing”.
To encourage Chinese buyers’ interest before the auction, Christie’s ran several Burgundy tastings in Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan called “From Beaune to Beijing”.
The auction itself passed successfully, with the total slightly down on last year at €5.1 million to 2009’s €5.4m. However, due to the smaller size of the 2010 harvest there were also 156 fewer barrels for sale than in 2009.
On the other hand, average prices per lot did rise by 15.7% for white wines and 12.5% for reds.
Jacques Boisseaux, owner of Patriarche Père et Fils paid a grand total of €400,000 for a 500 litre tonneau of Beaune premier cru, dubbed the “president’s lot”.
European buyers remained the dominant buyers at the auction but for the first time Asian bidders overtook the US in numbers of registered bidders, a development that will be viewed positively in light of Burgundy’s aspirations in that market.
Rupert Millar, 25.11.2010