Company says new products targeted at attracting 'young consumers looking for a high-quality lifestyle'

Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits unit owned by French luxury group LVMH, inaugurated China's first winery dedicated to the production of premium sparkling wine on Friday, in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Domaine Chandon (Ningxia) Moet Hennessy will release its first bottle in 2014, bearing the Chandon brand.

"The winery not only helps support our group's total business in China in the future," said Christophe Navarre, CEO of Moet Hennessy, "it also indicates our long-term vision in this fantastic market.

"No matter if the Chinese market goes up or down, we will always be here, and we want to be part of China's future."

Located close to the Helan Mountain near the capital city Yinchuan, the winery - with an operational area of 6,300 sq m - will follow the company's worldwide procedures to ensure the highest quality sparkling wines.

It will benefit not only from the support of Chandon's international winemaking expertise and latest production facilities, but also from Ningxia's ideal climate, said officials, where the soil and the environment are all perfectly suited to growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.

"Moet Hennessy has always been committed to providing high-standard winemaking expertise to make the finest quality wine," said Navarre.

"With the company's international resources, we believe this new operation will provide Chinese consumers a great sparkling wine."

Mark Bedingham, the managing director of Moet Hennessy Asia Pacific, told China Daily that the sparkling wine produced in Ningxia will initially satisfy local demand but in the future it will also look at exporting the product.

"The wine market in China is booming and its growth is dramatic. This opening marks another significant milestone in Moet Hennessy's continued efforts to help develop wine in China, and is another sign of the company's commitment to China," said Bedingham.

In May, the company also launched a new winery in Deqin county, Yunnan province, in the famous area of Shangri-la.

"The winery in Yunnan is dedicated to top quality, premium wine. So, to produce the best red wine in China, we are willing to wait longer," added Navarre.

Bedingham said the pricing of its premium sparkling wine produced in Ningxia will not be as high as that of the red wine made in Yunnan.

The image of its perfect wine drinker in China, he added, is "young consumers who are looking for a high-quality lifestyle".

The output of sparkling wine in Ningxia will be larger than the winery in Yunnan.

"In most of the world's major wine markets, sparkling wine accounts for just 0.9 to 3 percent of total demand," said Bedingham.

"But the 1 percent of China's wine market, which is still increasing, is a big number."

"I believe as a pioneer in the sparkling wine sector in China, we will achieve a high market share after we release it next year."

Six years ago, Moet Hennessy acquired Wenjun, a Chinese white spirits producer in Sichuan province, and Navarre said it has been moving quickly to sell Wenjun in luxury markets.

"Now we have a rich portfolio in China's luxury spirit and wine markets," said Navarre.

Statistics from International Wine and Spirit Research show that sales of wine and spirits in Asia-Pacific are forecast to overtake those in Western countries by 2016.

By then, the total amount of wine consumed every year is expected to rise from 3.39 billion cases to 3.68 billion cases, with 75 percent of that increase coming from China.

lifangfang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/29/2013 page10)