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MAY NEWS opment project in China. He discussed the Chinese wine market with a group of wine industry professionals attending the 12th University of California, Davis, Wine Ex- ecutive Program held March 25-29. Selfridge said the potential for wine Huge Growth Expected in China S Wine Executive Program speakers say current market still smaller than U.S. acramento, Calif.—Tom Selfridge, a wine industry consultant and re- tired president of Hess Collection, is consulting for a vineyard devel- in China is huge, but if sellers look at how many people are actually buying varietal wines at premium prices, the market is still smaller than that of the United States. Wine made from grapes also accounts for just 10% of the wine consumed in China. "When people in China talk about wine, it's a much broader category than what we talk about," said Selfridge, who added that the Chinese make wine out of other fruits such as plums and enjoy mixing it with juice and soft drinks. dignitaries sample champagne in Hong Kong, where the french dominate the wine market. Those habits are changing as an ever- growing number of Chinese billionaires and a growing middle class begin to drink and collect wine. Selfridge said the French were the first to tap the Chinese market and still have a large lead over California imports, which also lag behind Australia. "We have more work to do," he said. Mark Yang, a Wine Executive Program attendee, is a U.S. citizen who lives in Chi- na. Yang co-founded the La Joie De Vivre wine club and is working to establish a re- sort and wine club near the Chinese city of Guangzhou. He agreed with Selfridge's as- sessment that the Chinese market is around 18.5 million core wine drinkers, but he expects that market to double within five years. "That means people here need to do a much better job, honestly, of marketing," he said. Yang said Americans winesandvines.com also could be surprised that it takes money just to get on a wine list or in a retail shop. "You've got to pay a lot of money to get on the list," he said. "If you want to have your wine on a shelf in a retail store, you pay. That's very expensive." It's also not unusual for deals to have credit terms of three to six months. Learn more: Search keywords "China executive." —Andrew Adams Wines & Vines MAY 2012 25 HKTDC