CONSUMER
消费者
从那时起，中国的葡萄酿酒业就迎来了爆炸 性增长。今天的中国已然是全球第五大葡萄酒 生产国，但其国内产量仍未能跟上国内消费的 增长。
Huadong Chateau vineyards, Qingdao, China 中国青岛华东葡萄园酒庄
the French got greedy. Most red wine from Bordeaux is bought via an ‘en primeur’ system in which customers pay upfront for wine that has yet to be bottled. Claiming another in a series of ‘vintages of a lifetime’ for the 2010 wines, the market began to rile at a price increase of around 40%. The market instantly lost its fizz and prices began to plummet. Prices fell by 15% in 2011 and another 12% the year following. In late 2012 China’s central government began to implement the range of austerity measures that have quelled excessive consumption. As a result, the Chinese habit of gifting wine has declined dramatically and the level of entertainment in restaurants has reduced. The top end of the wine market is today significantly smaller than it was before this policy, but after a period of decline, the Chinese wine market is today larger than it was when the policy was first announced. The growth has been in more ‘affordable’ wines, even though for a range of reasons Chinese people pay significantly more per bottle of inexpensive wine (say 100RMB) than consumers in other large wine drinking 82 | HIGHER VIEW BUSIN E S S
countries. This shows the market is real and here to stay. If Chinese people are drinking wine, they have now had to buy it themselves. Young Chinese people view wine as a passport to a new lifestyle, and one they are defining themselves. Well travelled, they are often educated in Western countries, watch Western movies, aspire to Western brands and spend most of their time online in some way or other. They see wine and wine knowledge as an integral part of their becoming citizens of the world. And they are learning fast!
CHINA’S OWN WINE INDUSTRY
With anticipated growth between 2011 and 2018 of 40-60%, China’s wine market is set to change the shape of the global wine industry. It is on a path to become the world’s largest producer of wine (it’s currently number five) yet it could still become the largest export market for most quality wine producing countries. While a significant proportion are still table grapes, China owns more than 10% of the world’s vineyards, second only to Spain. Yet very little Chinese wine is exported, and most 商道
在混乱中现雏形的市场 在中国葡萄酒市场初现雏形期间，法国人很 快领悟到中国文化当中面子的重要性，并推动了 中国葡萄酒市场的成形。法国人所传达的信息 简单明了、久经考验且行之有效：如果中国人 想用最好、最有名的葡萄酒来招待宾客，那么 来自波尔多——法国最大、最重要的优质葡萄 酒产地——的红葡萄酒将是他们的上选；这一 点毋庸置疑！结果呢？波尔多葡萄酒价格水涨 船高，尤其是来自于一级酒庄的葡萄酒（以拉 菲酒庄为甚）。 这或者是因为与邻居摩登·罗氏察德酒庄相 比，拉菲在中国更为朗朗上口，但拉菲最终成 为了被众多品牌搞得晕头转向的近14亿中国人 梦寐以求的品牌，甚至还在其年份为2008年的 葡萄酒瓶身上印上了中国的“八”字。 在2008年香港财政司司长唐英年取消葡萄酒 关税之前，香港就已然是一个蒸蒸日上的葡萄 酒市场。这项政策一夜之间令香港成为了葡萄 酒行业的乐土。在低价以及正品保证的诱惑下， 该政策也驱使更多的中国游客涌入香港购买葡 萄酒。这怎么会有什么问题呢？！ 2010年11月，奔富酒庄推出了其有史以来最 昂贵的葡萄酒，即2008年的Bin 620赤霞珠-西拉 干红葡萄酒，定价每瓶1,000澳元，是葛兰许干 红葡萄酒的1.5倍。奔富酒庄并没有在悉尼、墨 尔本、伦敦乃至纽约推出此酒，而是选择在上 海和香港先后发布此酒。曾一位中国绅士上前 询问奔富酒庄的首席执行官，愿意出两倍的价 格全部买下此酒的所有产品。这怎么会有什么 问题呢？！ 中国经济首次出现放缓迹象，然后法国人也 开始变得贪婪起来。来自波尔多的绝大部分葡 萄酒都是通过一个“期酒”系统来销售的，顾 客需要为尚未装瓶的葡萄酒预付酒款。在2010 年份的葡萄酒又被冠以“毕生难逢年份”的盛 名之后，市场开始对40%左右的价格涨幅显露出 不满情绪；随着市场的泄气，价格随即应声而 落。2011年，葡萄酒价格下滑了15%，次年又 再次下跌了12%。 2012年末，中国中央政府开始实施一系列的 财政紧缩措施，以此来打击铺张浪费和昂贵消 费。在此背景下，中国人赠送葡萄酒的旧习开 始急剧退烧，各餐厅的消费水平也一落千丈。 此项政策出台之后，高端葡萄酒市场显著萎缩， 只有“经济型”葡萄酒依然保持增长势头—— 虽然出于这样或那样的原因，中国人在购买廉 价葡萄酒（假设在100元人民币左右）之时要比 其它主要葡萄酒消费国的消费者多掏很多钱。