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Great Wines of the World Asia concluded last week and yet again saw record numbers through the doors and more than 150 wineries participating in three cities – Seoul, Hong Kong and Beijing.
Despite opening with a brand new location - Seoul - and protests in Hong Kong slowing some parts of the city down, the enthusiasm for wine in this part of the world was emphatic. We estimate more than 5,000 attendees visited the three events in total, keen to sample the best wines the world has to offer. Every event felt energized, lively and was huge fun, so let there be no doubt - Asia loves great wine!
Watch the video above for the highlights from all cities.
Our Seoul event at the Four Seasons hotel sold out weeks in advance, so if you want to join the next event there (watch this space for our upcoming events) make sure you book your tickets quickly. James predicts that Korea should be the No. 2 fine wine market in Asia after China in the next five years and if the sold out attendance is any indication, he can’t be wrong. James and his wife Marie, who is from Seoul, are considered the new wine rockstars of the city and the media articles and social media postings were omnipresent before and after the event. We plan on doubling the size of the venue next year.
Hong Kong was similarly popular, and was especially enjoyable in the venue of the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong in Wan Chai. It’s the largest hotel space on Hong Kong Island. We opened the event an hour earlier than usual to minimize any potential disruption to travel plans that may have been caused by the protests, and everyone was able to arrive and depart on time.
“Rock on Hong Kong’s wine world!” was James’s main message during his on-stage speech midway through the event.
And in Beijing the growing knowledge and enthusiasm even non-trade attendees have for wine was on show. Most were in the late 20s and the more than 1,500 who attended were well prepped and educated for the event. “The interest and knowledge of the people attending the event was amazing,” said Charles de Bournet of Clos Apalta, one of the top producers of Chile. “Each year you meet more and more top people at the event.”
Across all three events we don’t think a single bottle was left unpoured! We also announced our Wine of the Year 2019 during the Beijing event at the Rosewood Beijing, a difficult choice given how many fantastic wines the JamesSuckling.com team has tasted this year (25,000 wines in total!), but we decided on the Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne 2015. Click here to read the full report that also contains our full list of the Top 100 Wines of 2019.
Thanks again to everyone who helped create such an inspiring event, especially the crowds of wine lovers and wine trade. A special thanks to superstar DJ Surahn Sidhu who spins the decks at all our events. And thanks to our wine trade partners who helped with logistics to get wines to the right place including Korea’s Winenara, China’s COFCO, France’s CVBG, and Italy’s Empson and Heres.
Next up: Great Wines of Italy Asia, Nov 27-Dec 2 (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Beijing).
And: Great Wines of the World Miami, Jan 23-24, (Miami, USA)
See you there!