Taipei may not be the most amazing Asian city in terms of scenery even so Taipei 101 is the architectual pride of the city but its charm is elsewhere. Because of its history and the fact that in 1949 many nationalists joined the island from the Mainland, it offers one of the most diverse melting pot in all of China.
In the wine trade like in many business sectors the drive is in the hands of dynamic female entrepreneurs. Jessie Fang is one them and one of a kind, respected and connected like very few women in this elsewhere male dominated sector. Leading Brands is also a leader in educating Taiwanese to fine wines and certainly fully committed to ours, in a market still heavily influenced by the Gambei culture (thanks Mark for your article)
On the first evening of my arrival, Jessie gave me a memorable tour of the gastronomic street scene of Taipei, having previously double decanted a rare bottle of Argentinian icon wine Nicolas of Catena Zapata enjoyed with adequate glassware between the stalls, with a surprising "menu degustation" of duck from neck to nozzle. Even so wine consumption is growing rapidly here as elsewhere in Asia, wine is not yet in the scope of street eaters as we could notice from people passing by...
On the agenda of this 3 days visit, a lunch at dim sum specialist Din Tai Fung that is one of Taiwan's eating institution, dumplings are all prepared in front of the guests and ordered by ticking a form exclusively available in Chinese, the assistance of a local is therefore highly recommended... but juicy pork dumplings remain my absolute favourite ! In the afternoon, a trade tasting for wholesalers and wine lovers with a presentation in Traditionnal Chinese updated in record time by Sammy, Jessie's competant and dynamic assistant (pictured above right) followed by a dinner with some close GM friends.
On the last day, some visits of retail shops with Vincent, some within department stores, including Dean & Deluca and the familiar Costco with its popular eating corner whose menu includes a local version of pizza with Peking duck ! Jessie and her entire team does a fantastic job for the distribution of our wines in a market where white wines account for just 10% of the total wine sales.
The evening dinner was no less memorable, with a traditionnal Chinese new year banquet dinner menu including a succulent local version of pork shank with the pairing in a local traditionnal restaurant of our wines for a group of friendly and enthusiast members of the press. Our white wines did make us all happy !
Mission accomplished Jessie, thanks to you and all your great team !
In the wine trade like in many business sectors the drive is in the hands of dynamic female entrepreneurs. Jessie Fang is one them and one of a kind, respected and connected like very few women in this elsewhere male dominated sector. Leading Brands is also a leader in educating Taiwanese to fine wines and certainly fully committed to ours, in a market still heavily influenced by the Gambei culture (thanks Mark for your article)
On the first evening of my arrival, Jessie gave me a memorable tour of the gastronomic street scene of Taipei, having previously double decanted a rare bottle of Argentinian icon wine Nicolas of Catena Zapata enjoyed with adequate glassware between the stalls, with a surprising "menu degustation" of duck from neck to nozzle. Even so wine consumption is growing rapidly here as elsewhere in Asia, wine is not yet in the scope of street eaters as we could notice from people passing by...
On the agenda of this 3 days visit, a lunch at dim sum specialist Din Tai Fung that is one of Taiwan's eating institution, dumplings are all prepared in front of the guests and ordered by ticking a form exclusively available in Chinese, the assistance of a local is therefore highly recommended... but juicy pork dumplings remain my absolute favourite ! In the afternoon, a trade tasting for wholesalers and wine lovers with a presentation in Traditionnal Chinese updated in record time by Sammy, Jessie's competant and dynamic assistant (pictured above right) followed by a dinner with some close GM friends.
On the last day, some visits of retail shops with Vincent, some within department stores, including Dean & Deluca and the familiar Costco with its popular eating corner whose menu includes a local version of pizza with Peking duck ! Jessie and her entire team does a fantastic job for the distribution of our wines in a market where white wines account for just 10% of the total wine sales.
The evening dinner was no less memorable, with a traditionnal Chinese new year banquet dinner menu including a succulent local version of pork shank with the pairing in a local traditionnal restaurant of our wines for a group of friendly and enthusiast members of the press. Our white wines did make us all happy !
Mission accomplished Jessie, thanks to you and all your great team !
Comments (1)
mark peterson:
Thanks Etienne for the acknowledgemnet of my article. We are all commited to seeing white wine appreciation and consumption grow here in Taiwan, especially Alsace/asian food friendly/wines.
cheers
mark Peterson
Published by mark peterson | 01/27/2010 13:54
Published 01/27/2010 13:54