Space odysseys
By Andrew Jefford
In the fine wine world, one story has dominated the past half-decade: Asia. Hong Kong’s canny decision in February 2008 to abolish sales tax on wine has quickly made it a global fine wine hub to rival London. Farr Vintners, the UK’s leading trader in fine Bordeaux, has seen sales to Asia rise from 26 per cent in 2006 to 57 per cent in 2010, and it says it now has more customers called Chan than called Smith. Rival broker Bordeaux Index, to take another example, says its sales to Asia have doubled every year for the past five years. The showiest wine auction sales in 2011 will take place in Hong Kong.
Where is all this fine wine going, and in what conditions is it being stored? Ambient temperatures in Hong Kong (an annual mean of 23°C) and Singapore (an annual mean of 27.5°C) are far too high for satisfactory wine storage, even though temperature variability is less than in temperate latitudes. Special storage conditions are essential – yet space, in these dizzying cities of apartment dwellers, is hard to come by. Many of Farr Vintners’ Asian customers, for example, store their wine in the UK and only “ship to drink”.
One solution is communal cellaring: wine vaults with impeccable storage conditions in which collectors can rent zones which they can kit out as they wish. Hong Kong Wine Vault, for example, contains more than 200 individual cellars kept at 13°C; the facility also includes tasting rooms and a shop. Crown Wine Cellars in Hong Kong, a former munitions bunker set in parkland, also includes a clubhouse where members can host guests, and offers 50,000 sq ft of storage, some of it 20m underground.
Another practical solution to the challenge of storage in apartments in tropical or sub-tropical climates is wine cabinets, such as those made by EuroCave: free-standing, temperature-controlled units in which wines are stored on sliding trays. Like a fridge, you can take your “cellar” with you when you move apartments, though they are rarely capacious enough for the serious collector, and wines also need to be removed from their packaging (which in the case of the wooden cases used for fine Bordeaux will detract from any eventual resale value).
Cellars in private homes in Asia are, of course, becoming increasingly common with the interest in fine wine, and these often have a distinctively Asian flavour. Philip Tan of Celsius in Singapore specialises in cellar installation throughout Asia, and has installed temperature-controlled cellaring which extends upwards through several floors, for example: a kind of mini high-rise for wine.
Another distinctively Asian take on cellarage concerns visibility. Many Asian fine wine purchases, most commentators concur, are connected with status, notably the ownership and service of Château Lafite Rothschild, at present the fetish wine among Bordeaux first-growths in China. Little status can be accrued by owning wines of this sort invisibly. Many new purpose-built cellars in Asia, as a consequence, consist of zones of existing living space partitioned using glass, so that the entire cellar is visible: the cellar doubling as a display cabinet. For the sake of the wines, though, any glass-walled cellar needs to be equipped with blinds or shutters when visibility is not required.
The Chinese mainland is where most future growth in Asian wine collecting is expected to occur. According to Fongyee Walker of Beijing-based Dragon Phoenix Fine Wine Consulting, “Beijing and Shanghai are different to Hong Kong and Singapore because there is so much more room and people can and do build cellars. Most people I have talked to about this, though, have just used regular contractors for the work and just built a hole under their house. Not sophisticated, but it’s the way”. There are, in other words, evident business opportunities ahead in bringing not just fine wine but fine cellarage to China’s near-half-million thirsty millionaires.
Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/18e851aa-609d-11e0-a182-00144feab49a.html#axzz1J599Dkjv
Clark Wine Center is more than a wine shop to people living in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone. Clark’s wine shop is also a popular venue for parties and family gatherings. Conveniently located on the main highway of Clark Philippines, it is accessible to guests from Manila, Subic, Pampanga, Angeles City and of course those who live and work in Clark. Aside from the 2-storey wine shop which also has a nice roof deck lawn for small party of up to 80 people as well as an indoor wine tasting room which accommodates up to 60 comfortably, this wine store called Clark Wine Center also has one hectare of picnic grounds surrounding it.
Best birthday gift to send to someone living in the Philippines is a nice bottle of wine from Yats Wine Cellars. Delivery of birthday wine can made to Manila, Angeles City Pampanga, Clark Philippines and Subic.
Wine Shop Manila offers best luxurious beers in Philippines called Vintage Beer.
Birthday gift of wine is the most popular gift idea this year in Philippines. Yats Wine Cellars offers birthday wine gifts that are unique and certain to make the recipient very happy. These birthday wines are not available in wine shops so it is a unique bottle of wine for the recipient.
This Manila Wine Shop is the largest wine shop in Philippines. This is the wine shop to go for fine vintage wines, not just the big names like Lafite, Latour, Petrus, Cristal, Krug, Grange, Vega Sicilia and Sassicaia. This wine shop in Manila offers many excellent vintage wine for under p4,000, even for some that are 20-30 year old from St. Emilion and Pomerol.
Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center. Visitors buy wine in Manila and Pampanga should not miss stopping at this wine shop for a few bottles of fine vintage wines to bring home.
http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com
Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila
Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple: after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave. From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City. From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.
Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center.
Clark Wine Center
Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building
Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,
Angeles Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023
0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)
YATS Wine Cellars
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 ask for Rea or Chay
Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center.
Wedding couples looking for wedding reception venues and beach wedding venues can log on to this Philippines Wedding Venue web site for free information and assistance:
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While in Clark, it might be a good idea to enjoy an evening of wine-and-dine in the fine dining Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar that features an award winning 2700-line wine list. It is located in Mimosa Leisure Estate of Clark Freeport Zone. For more information, visit http://www.YatsRestaurant.com
YATS Leisure Philippines is a developer and operator of clubs, resorts and high-class restaurants and wine shops in Clark Angeles Philippines http://www.yatsleisure.com
Looking for famous tourists spots, places to visit and see, relax and unwind in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines? You may want to check out these sites also:
http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com
http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com
http://www.YatsWineCellars.com
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