高檔葡萄酒市場繼續東移趨勢

It was in June 2000 when Greg De'Eb, a diplomat at the South African High Commission in Hong Kong, attended a conference organized by the territory's trade-development council asking whether the region could become the wine-trading center of Asia. It provided, he says, the genesis of an idea. If this small city-state was serious about attracting some of the greatest names from Bordeaux and Burgundy, then the collectors who bought these wines were going to need somewhere to store them.

2000年6月，時任南非駐香港高級專員公署（South African High Commission in Hong Kong）外交官的格雷戈裏•迪耶布（Greg De'Eb）參加了由香港貿易發展局組織的會議，主題是探討香港能否成爲亞洲的葡萄酒貿易中心。他說這次會議啓發了他。如果這個彈丸之地真心想吸引波爾多（Bordeaux）和勃艮第（Burgundy）最著名的葡萄酒品牌，那麼購買這些名酒的藏家們就需要找地方貯藏它們。

With cellar space at a premium on the island, 'Eb, together with U.S. businessman Jim Thompson, decided to provide it. Their search took them to Deep Water Bay Drive, an unassuming road that snakes off the main thoroughfare that carries busy commuter traffic down toward the south of the island.

由於香港可做酒窖的空間稀少而昂貴，迪耶布與美國商人吉姆•湯普森（Jim Thompson）決定給人們提供這樣一個場所。他們在深水灣徑（Deep Water Bay Drive）找到了一個理想之所，深水灣徑是從深水灣道上蜿蜒分出的一條不起眼的支路，深水灣道是通向香港島南區的主幹道，每天上下班時間十分繁忙。

It is here, 18 meters below ground, in a former British army munitions bunker, that much of Hong Kong's fine wine is stored. "We have between one billion and two billion Hong Kong dollars worth of wine stored here," equating to 100 million euros -200 million euros, Mr. De'Eb explains over a coffee in the club house at Crown Wine Cellars. "Which works out at around one million bottles, or 200,000 cases."

Vinexpo亞太區葡萄酒和烈酒展覽會剛剛在香港舉行了迄今爲止最繁忙的貿易展。這個理想之所就是如今的皇冠酒窖（Crown Wine Cellars），位於地面以下18米，曾經是英軍的彈藥庫，如今這裏貯藏着香港大部分的名貴葡萄酒。在皇冠酒窖的會所裏，迪耶布邊喝咖啡邊解釋說，這裏貯藏了價值10至20億港元的葡萄酒，相當於1至2億歐元，總計大概有100萬瓶，20萬箱。

Twelve years on from that conference and not only has Hong Kong become the fine-wine trading hub of Asia but it is now the largest auction market for fine wine in the world. Following a move by the Hong Kong administration in February 2008 to remove a 40% import duty on fine wine, auction houses including Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams and Acker Merrall & Condit now sell more wine in Hong Kong than in London and New York put together.

2000年那場會議後已經過去了12年，如今香港不僅成爲了亞洲高端葡萄酒貿易的樞紐，還是全世界最大的精品葡萄酒拍賣市場。隨着香港當局於2008年2月取消40%的高檔葡萄酒進口關稅，包括蘇富比（Sotheby's）、佳士得（Christie's）、寶龍（Bonhams）和Acker Merrall & Condit在內的拍賣行現在在香港賣出的葡萄酒比在倫敦和紐約賣出的總和還要多。

To underline this geographical shift from the mercantile trading routes of Western Europe and the North Atlantic, Vinexpo Asia-Pacific has just held its busiest trade show in Hong Kong to date. Last week, more than 15,000 wine professionals from 28 countries converged on the enclave to talk wine and the business of selling it.

亞太區葡萄酒和烈酒展覽會（Vinexpo Asia-Pacific）剛剛在香港舉行了迄今爲止最繁忙的貿易展，這再次凸顯了葡萄酒商業交易路線從西歐與北大西洋地區的東移。5月29至31日，來自28個國家的超過15,000名葡萄酒行家齊聚香港，探討葡萄酒並交流相關生意經。

"I would say between 74% and 78% of what we have stored with us is from Bordeaux," says Mr. De'Eb. "This is followed by wines from Australia, Napa and, increasingly, Burgundy. In Hong Kong at the moment Burgundy is hot."

迪耶布說，我們這裏貯藏的74%到78%的酒都來自波爾多，緊隨其後的是來自澳洲和納帕谷（Napa）的葡萄酒，勃艮第的葡萄酒也越來越多，目前勃艮第酒在香港很受追捧。

But when Mr. De'Eb talks about Burgundy or Bordeaux, he is referring to the greatest wines from those regions, such as Chateau Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux or Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and Domaine Georges Roumier in Burgundy. When I visited a wine merchant in the Central district of Hong Kong, the shelves were filled with names one would more often encounter in a fine-wine auction catalog.

但在說到勃艮第或波爾多時，迪耶布指的是這兩地的頂級酒莊出產的葡萄酒，比如波爾多的拉菲酒莊（Chateau Lafite Rothschild）或勃艮第的羅曼尼•康帝酒莊（Domaine de la Romanee-Conti）和喬治•魯米耶酒莊（Domaine Georges Roumier）。在筆者到訪的香港中環的一家葡萄酒店裏，酒架上放的都是精品葡萄酒拍賣目錄上常見的名酒。

And it is this top-down approach that differentiates the Asian market from Europe. In Europe, we are introduced to wine from a young age; we grow up drinking either the most local or the cheapest. It is only after our interest is piqued that we graduate to the more prestigious estates; eventually we may enjoy a sip of a first growth. But what happens when your first introduction to wine is Chateau Latour, from a particularly fine vintage such as 1982?

正是這種從高端酒起步的推廣方法將亞洲市場與歐洲區分開來。在歐洲，人們從小就接觸葡萄酒，喝當地酒或廉價酒長大。只有在產生了興趣之後，人們纔會逐漸接觸比較名貴的酒莊酒，直到最後纔會品嚐一等列級酒莊酒。但如果你第一次接觸的葡萄酒就來自拉圖酒莊（Chateau Latour），並且產自1982這樣特別好的年份，會是什麼情況呢？

"Many of my clients have been collecting wine for more than 40 years," says Mr. De'Eb. "They have palates as developed as any Frenchman I know." But, he adds, these collectors have been joined by people who want to invest in wine and a small crowd who are relatively new to wine but are beginning to appreciate the older vintages.

迪耶布說，我的許多客戶都有40餘年藏酒經驗，這些人味覺的靈敏度堪比我所認識的任何法國人。但他補充說，這些人中也有以投資爲目的的人，還有一小部分人，剛剛涉足葡萄酒領域就開始追捧陳年佳釀。

There is also the prospect of buyers in Asia expanding beyond the traditional markets of Australia, Bordeaux, Burgundy and New Zealand to source their wine.

亞洲買家還有一種趨勢，即走出澳大利亞、波爾多、勃艮第和新西蘭等傳統市場，蒐集其他地方的葡萄酒。

"Napa is waiting to happen" says Mr. De'Eb. "But I wouldn't be surprised if German Riesling became of interest. As the market is introduced to unfamiliar grape varieties from unfamiliar wine-producing countries, the reaction is always " This is incredible, what is it? " But it will not only be German Riesling, it will be other floral wines from the region, such as Gewurztraminer, that will gain in popularity too."

迪耶布說，納帕谷即將成爲新寵，但如果德國雷司令（German Riesling）炙手可熱起來，我也不會感到意外；隨着來自非傳統產酒國不常見的葡萄品種被推入市場，人們的反應總是“真不可思議，這是什麼？”不僅僅是雷司令，來自德國的其他帶有濃郁花香的葡萄酒也會流行起來，比如瓊瑤漿（Gewurztraminer）。