Spanish winegrowers reap benefits of Chinese booze boom
Blend from Catalan vineyard is little known at home – but has just been named best in world by specialist Asian magazine
China’s wine market is one of the biggest in the world, with urban
affluence having driven a decade of explosive growth in consumption.
Now a small bodega in Spain stands to benefit from the Asian country’s huge economic firepower after one of its wines was named as the best in the world by a specialist Chinese magazine.
“It was a complete surprise to us,” said Olívia Bayés, who with her husband, David Marco, runs Marco Abella in the mountains of the Catalan winemaking zone of Priorat. “They told us we had made it into the top 100 – we were really excited to get that far. Then they called us and told us to come to China because we had won the top prize.”
After more than six years pushing their products in China, the pair had entered Wine in China magazine’s blind-tasting competition in the hope of drumming up more business.
The 14-member jury, made up of experts and sommeliers from China, Australia, the UK and US, gave top marks to the Marco Abella 2009 Clos Abella, awarding its blend of carignan, garnacha, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz grapes 97 points out of 100. The bottle retails for about €40-€50 (£30-£38) in Spain.
Bayés, 42, said she hoped the recognition would bring a degree of continuity and stability to the exports to China. “We’re a small bodega – we do everything ourselves,” she said. “You’re always thinking about the future. I’ve got this many sold here, this many sold in the US. But with China, it’s always, ‘How many will we sell this year?’”
The former lawyer and her husband, who worked in management in Barcelona, entered the wine business after deciding they needed an escape from city life. “Our families told us we were crazy,” she said. “We had good jobs, good salaries and had it all figured out, but we wanted to change our way of life.”
They relocated to just outside Porrera, a small town 80 miles south-west of Barcelona, where generations of Marco’s family had produced wine. In the 19th century, after the grapevine pest phylloxera struck the vineyards, his grandfather upped sticks and moved to Barcelona.
Their first wines were ready to sell in 2008 – just as the economic crisis hit Spain. With few in Spain willing to take a gamble on unknown high-end wines, the pair eyed markets where few other domestic wines had gone. “It was like a boxer taking hits in the ring,” said Marco, 46. “The important thing for us was to not fall over.”
After a failed attempt in India – “We saw pretty quickly that Indian cuisine didn’t pair well with red wines,” he said – they became the first from the Denominación de Origen Priorat to try China.
They are one of several Spanish bodegas that have looked abroad in hopes of drumming up demand, said Rafael del Rey of the Spanish wine market observatory. Wine imports to China rose sevenfold in 2007-13, but have slowed of late.
“The Chinese market is now growing at a much slower pace. It doesn’t create the great expectations that it used to five years ago,” he said. He attributed the change to a slowdown in economic growth as well as a crackdown by China’s government – in an effort to tackle corruption – on lavish gift-giving.
Amid the slowdown and facing tough competition from other wine producing countries such as Chile and Australia, he said, some Spanish producers have been forced to reevaluate whether chasing the Chinese market is worthwhile. “It’s not easy. It takes a large investment, a lot of trips back and forth, and a very close relationship with Chinese distributors.”
For those at Marco Abella, their venture into China has helped to fuel an expansion of their team to seven members, who produce about 80,000 bottles of wine a year. It remains to be seen if their success in China will translate into success in their own backyard, said Bayés. “We sell well in the US, China and Catalonia. Now we’re hoping to grow in the rest of Europe.”
Origin information: The Guardian
Now a small bodega in Spain stands to benefit from the Asian country’s huge economic firepower after one of its wines was named as the best in the world by a specialist Chinese magazine.
“It was a complete surprise to us,” said Olívia Bayés, who with her husband, David Marco, runs Marco Abella in the mountains of the Catalan winemaking zone of Priorat. “They told us we had made it into the top 100 – we were really excited to get that far. Then they called us and told us to come to China because we had won the top prize.”
After more than six years pushing their products in China, the pair had entered Wine in China magazine’s blind-tasting competition in the hope of drumming up more business.
The 14-member jury, made up of experts and sommeliers from China, Australia, the UK and US, gave top marks to the Marco Abella 2009 Clos Abella, awarding its blend of carignan, garnacha, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz grapes 97 points out of 100. The bottle retails for about €40-€50 (£30-£38) in Spain.
Bayés, 42, said she hoped the recognition would bring a degree of continuity and stability to the exports to China. “We’re a small bodega – we do everything ourselves,” she said. “You’re always thinking about the future. I’ve got this many sold here, this many sold in the US. But with China, it’s always, ‘How many will we sell this year?’”
The former lawyer and her husband, who worked in management in Barcelona, entered the wine business after deciding they needed an escape from city life. “Our families told us we were crazy,” she said. “We had good jobs, good salaries and had it all figured out, but we wanted to change our way of life.”
They relocated to just outside Porrera, a small town 80 miles south-west of Barcelona, where generations of Marco’s family had produced wine. In the 19th century, after the grapevine pest phylloxera struck the vineyards, his grandfather upped sticks and moved to Barcelona.
Their first wines were ready to sell in 2008 – just as the economic crisis hit Spain. With few in Spain willing to take a gamble on unknown high-end wines, the pair eyed markets where few other domestic wines had gone. “It was like a boxer taking hits in the ring,” said Marco, 46. “The important thing for us was to not fall over.”
After a failed attempt in India – “We saw pretty quickly that Indian cuisine didn’t pair well with red wines,” he said – they became the first from the Denominación de Origen Priorat to try China.
They are one of several Spanish bodegas that have looked abroad in hopes of drumming up demand, said Rafael del Rey of the Spanish wine market observatory. Wine imports to China rose sevenfold in 2007-13, but have slowed of late.
“The Chinese market is now growing at a much slower pace. It doesn’t create the great expectations that it used to five years ago,” he said. He attributed the change to a slowdown in economic growth as well as a crackdown by China’s government – in an effort to tackle corruption – on lavish gift-giving.
Amid the slowdown and facing tough competition from other wine producing countries such as Chile and Australia, he said, some Spanish producers have been forced to reevaluate whether chasing the Chinese market is worthwhile. “It’s not easy. It takes a large investment, a lot of trips back and forth, and a very close relationship with Chinese distributors.”
For those at Marco Abella, their venture into China has helped to fuel an expansion of their team to seven members, who produce about 80,000 bottles of wine a year. It remains to be seen if their success in China will translate into success in their own backyard, said Bayés. “We sell well in the US, China and Catalonia. Now we’re hoping to grow in the rest of Europe.”
Origin information: The Guardian
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