During the Chinese New Year holiday week, the first international wine competition based in Asia was held in Hong Kong: the Decanter Asia Wine Award. Australia dominated, taking home 6 of the 13 trophies up for grabs: 3 went to France and one each to Argentina, New Zealand, Spain and Italy (which they won with Marchesi Alfieri, Barbera d'Asti Superiore, Piedmont in 2009) . Decanter Asia received 2249 wines, while its 'big brother' competition – the Decanter World Wine Awards, founded in 2004 and the most coveted in the world – received more than 14.
In Asia many western tastes are establishing themselves, including wine drinking, and the Asian market is considered by all producers as the most promising.
Alongside the wine competition was an exhibition of 'Art and Wine', dominated by Elisabetta Rogai, a Florence-based painter who paints … with wine. She uses Tuscan wines without additives and uses a secret formula that prevents the discoloration of this medium. However, the colors change as the wine matures: six months after the completion of the painting, the colors, which previously ranged from purple to cherry red, transform into shades of amber, orange and brown.
Read the China Post
