Phenomenal imported wine sales growth in China has led the country’s leading importer to bolster its operations. ASC Fine Wines will expand from five offices across China to eight during the next 12-18 months in a bid keep up with demand. Sales of imported wine in China grew by more than 15 percent in 2004. In 1996, the first year of operation for ASC Fine Wines in China, the company sold 2000 cases of imported wine. Last year, they sold 200,000 cases. Don St Pierre Jr. says the company imports 650 different wines from 12 countries and is the exclusive importer/distributor for 55 wineries from around the world. They hold a 20 percent market share of the overall imported wine market. “We’re clearly the leader for what we do in China,” St Pierre says. “But it’s been almost 10 years of very hard work. The first five or six years were very difficult because the market for imported wine was extremely limited, and the amount of investment required to build up an infrastructure was quite substantial. “The market is moving quickly so we have to try and keep up with it. We employ over 200 people now. We will be expanding to eight offices.” “We’re very much focused on premium branded wine. A lot of imported brands are very inexpensive French table wines. We like to look at the premium category and we feel we’ve got about 33 percent of the premium imported category in China. Premium would be defined as something that retails on the shelf for more than US$10.”

Some of ASC’s most sought-after brands include Beringer Vineyards from the Napa Valley, Kendall-Jackson Vineyards from Sonoma, Wolf Blass and Penfolds, and Angelo Gaja and Sassicaia from Northern Italy. Others include Champagne Bollinger and Champagne Mumm from France, Louis Jadot from Burgundy, E.Guigal from the Rhone Valley, and Chateau Latour and Chateau Cos d’Estournel from Bordeaux. “We represent some great French brands as well as some great Australian brands. More than 40 percent of our sales are French and a little over 20 percent of our sales are Australian, but the Australian category is growing the quickest. It’s a category that is taking business away from the French, but more than anything else it’s taking business away from the Americans, and maybe some Italian. “For Australian wines, Wolf Blass would be number one, Penfolds would be number two, Brown Brothers is number three, and then you get into others like Petaluma, Leeuwin, Saltram and Torbreck. All of our wines are doing well. The top three bring to the table a wide price range spectrum which is quite important for building a brand in China. “In more mature economies you get restaurants that really want to have boutique brands. There are a few of those restaurants in Shanghai but we’re still at the beginning stages of the market here so big brands are important. The Chinese are going to gravitate towards brands that they have confidence in. We’re nowhere near the point where the Chinese know enough about Australia, or even enough about France to distinguish between a boutique wine and a big brand.”

Originally from Windsor, Ontario in Canada, the St Pierre family founded the company in 1996. Don St. Pierre Sr, chairman of the company, lives in Beijing and Don St Pierre Jr., lives in Shanghai. Orders are delivered from the company’s four temperature controlled warehouses in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Two factors worked in the company’s favour in the early stages of the business. China’s 2001 accession to the World Trade Organisation caused wine tariffs to drop, meaning that the largest consumer market in the world would be open to imported wine. Second, when it came to producing wines, China’s capacity was constrained.

ASC Fine Wines has a retail wine shop in Shanghai called 'Fine Wine & Co.'. The store offers more than 140 of the world's great wines from 12 different countries. It is designed to convey a friendly, relaxed environment, where the customer can feel comfortable searching the 4.2 meter high racks for wines from around the globe. The shop incorporates a tasting bar, where the customer can sample wines in Riedel wine glasses and also experience a Riedel Glass tasting course. "Our focus over the next five years is being the company people think of first when they think of fine imported wine," St Pierre says. "Both in the hotel/restaurant trade, retailers, and the private consumers. And we are also very much focused on wine education. We're investing a lot of time, effort, and money to educate our customers about wine. Those things are priority."