The manga that poured French wine into Asia September 18, 2009
Posted by koelnmesse foodie in Industry News.Tags: Asia, wine
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Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, a fashionable sister-brother duo publishing under the pseudonym Tadashi Agi, created “Kami no Shizuki” (The Drops of God), a phenomenally successful manga series that has brought wine to subway commuters across Asia, and sparked a wine boom.
In the four years since it first appeared, the 21-volume saga, where wines can be compared for excellence to a star rock concert, has sold six million copies in Japan and three million in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea, according to French publisher Editions Glenat.
“The Japanese love the ritual side of wine. In Korea, they have even discovered that wine can be a diplomatic tool,” said Shin Kibayashi. “Wine is universal, it can very well bridge differences between races and countries.”
The Wine Market September 7, 2009
Posted by koelnmesse foodie in Industry News.Tags: economy, wine
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The blurb from one wine investment fund argues that the fine wine market benefits from inelastic supply. That is, irrespective of the price it fetches, once a particular vintage is made no more can be produced. Moreover, the number of available bottles falls every time a cork is popped.
It is no coincidence that fine wine started to recover at the beginning of the year, alongside the Chinese stock market. The marginal buyer is shifting from London and both coasts of America, where demand is flat, to Hong Kong, now the hub for the booming Asian wine trade, particularly in China. While there will always be price anomalies allowing investors to make money in wine, this bull-run is your classic demand story. Choose the shape you expect the economic recovery to take; then pick your poison.
> Read the full article at FT.com
