Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Fongyee Walker MW: Italy? Still lots to be done in China!
First Master of Wine in mainland China, winning with her Dragon Phoenix Wine Consulting the title as best WSET school in 2016, educator and judge in the main competitions and Asian tastings, Fongyee Walker is one of the most popular person in the wine industry in China. Follow an excerpt from her interview.
Italy has some difficulty in China. What do you think are the main errors of the Italian producers or professionals?
I would say first of all promotional materials hurt, first translated from Italian to English and then from English into Chinese, without taking into account the different cultural messages or even the degree of the country wine knowledge. Many Italian regions in China are not known. Italians are a little pride, they think that the whole world knows Italian wines and grape varieties and areas, but here it is not so, much has to be given and to be learned. Many Chinese people really don’t have heard of most of those famous Italian wines!
What and how Italy as a country should do?
I hate to say it but Italy as a country has much to do. I think that Italy has to face enormous challenges in China in terms of promotion; it has been not very consistent up to now and there is not a real leading area that can push the promotion. Now the market is very crowded and confusing and if you have many different regional bodies who shout and fight for their share of the pie it becomes a confusing and difficult to decipher message for the consumer.
I think Italy should propose certified courses on Italian wines, but not focusing on grape varieties difficult to learn: make the course as simple and entertaining as possible, even one-day courses in an Italian restaurant, where you have a lunch together and continue to talk about wine, Italian, tourism, music … engage people, to hear this Italian lifestyle, make people love the Italian vibrations!
There is nothing like that here now and let’s face it: the individual consortium do not have enough money and power to be known throughout China. China is a tough job!
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Read the full interview [ITA]
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