S
PHERE
27
D
o you know your Chardonnay
from your Semillon? Or your
Chateau Lafite
from your
Chateau Latour
? Or your 1993 vintages
from your 1983s?
Do you detect cherries or a slight oak-
iness in your
Pinot Noirs
? Is your
favourite
Sauvignon Blanc
citrusy
or herbal?
Confused already?
Like most of us, you probably feel
embarrassed when you admit that you
are clueless about wine.
Relax. You’re one of the vast majority
who simply enjoys wine, but is not so
devoted to it as to know every single
aspect of what is basically a simple, old-
fashioned drink.
After all, when you order a steak, do
you ask for the name of the hapless
beast’s grandfather, what farm it came
from, or what year it was born? Do we
discuss superior years for harvesting
coffee? Of course not.
Doesn’t it really come down to just two
things: Is it in my price range? Will it
taste good with the pasta, chicken, or
seafood I’m having for dinner?
The fact is, there are two distinct
varieties of wine buyer – the aficiona-
dos, sommeliers, connoisseurs or
oenologists who have studied it, and
those who haven’t. And most of us fall
into the latter category.
Pure and Simple
Herein lies the challenge for Watson’s
Wine Cellars, the biggest and most popu-
lar wine retailer in Hong Kong, as it
embarks on an ambitious initiative to
expand globally by evolving, innovating
and adapting a retail strategy specifically
devised to meet the needs of modern
wine culture.
“Wine is surrounded by too much
mystique,” says Christian Nothhaft,
Director and General Manager of A.S.
Watson Wine. “For most of us, it’s intim-
Watson’s Wine Cellar is changing the way people in Hong Kong buy wine and looking
to expand the concept further afield.
By Tim Metcalfe
DIVINE
WINES
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