Saint Clair Winemaker Hamish Clark Tells the Saint Clair Story ‘Straight from the Horse’s Mouth’!
There is nothing like hearing a story ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’. The horse with the story this time is Hamish Clark – Saint Clair Family Estate Winemaker.
Saint Clair Family Estate is a true international wine brand exporting to over 60 world-wide markets. Recently Hamish took a whirlwind trip visiting various Asian markets that are significant to Saint Clair. This provided an exceptional opportunity for each of these markets to have the person involved in producing the exceptional Saint Clair Marlborough wines tell his story and the story of Saint Clair.
Taiwan was the first destination where Hamish spent some time with Saint Clair distributors dedicating time to the staff and training them in helping them understand the Saint Clair brand. Now each Eslite Distribution team member understands the basis of why all Saint Clair wines have definite varietal character, intensity and purity.
Vietnam was next on the agenda with Hamish meeting Saint Clair’s new distributor for the first time – One Asia. The majority of One Asia business is based in Hanoi however operator Mr Son Quang is building a house in Saigon as his operations continue to be expanded across Vietnam.
Son believes in the importance in educating the Vietnamese about wine. His business portfolio is impressive with wine distribution pairing well with the ownership of a food importation company as well as a number of high-end restaurants and wine bars. A barrier into this market is heavy taxation on wine. Saint Clair can be competitive in this market by adhering to its everyday mission – to over deliver at each and every price point.
Hamish combined a wine tasting with a buffet dinner event held at L’Oriental restaurant where 60 executive guests were invited to attend.
Hong Kong was next on the agenda where Saint Clair wines are very well known. Hamish spent several days with distributor Watson’s Wines to support their Watson’s Wine Week which involved a series of events. Tastings were held with both consumers and trade.
Other structured tastings/events were held such as a “meet the winemaker buffet” which was held at a six star hotel for invited guests and hotel guests. Wines were paired with food making it an evening to satisfy any taste bud.
Daniel Kangas is Saint Clair’s man on the ground in South Korea and Hamish spent some time catching up with him in Hong Kong. Daniel Kangas is a strong loyal supporter of Saint Clair Family Estate and following poor economic times 2008 is starting to see recovery and uptake of wine.
A busy time was on the horizon for Hamish with China the next calling point where Hamish visited cities of Guilin, Liuzhou, Nanning and Dongxing.
Tastings were held in each city with an assortment of Saint Clair wines. Wine knowledge varied in each city but the general consensus throughout China was a great enthusiasm to learn more and a great love for the wine Hamish was pouring (Saint Clair of course). With seafood on the menu at many of these tastings, Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc was a perfect match.
After seeing the inside of several planes over the course of a day Nanning to Shanghai, Hamish ended up in the next Saint Clair export market Tokyo, Japan.
With some time available (not common on a winemaker promotional trip) Hamish enjoyed time seeing some sights, reversing any effects of sleep deprivation and taking a much needed trip to the Laundromat before being ready bright eyed and bushy tailed for wine talk throughout Tokyo.
With the help of importers, wine from Saint Clair Family Estate has exploded into this market!
Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka were the three cities on the agenda with all the sales staff completely soaking up any extra Saint Clair information Hamish could give them. The dedicated team have fallen in love with the brand and happily and confidently getting the Saint Clair brand into market.
Final destination on the Asia tour 2011 was back to China for Aussino Wines Wine Fair in celebration of their 15th birthday where Hamish attended a trade tasting which was followed by a celebratory wine dinner.
The Saint Clair team thanks Hamish for the use of his time, walking the streets of Asia, promoting the wines of Saint Clair Family Estate and most of all telling the story of Saint Clair.
Hamish, your passi
on and skills are a tribute to the Saint Clair brand and the importers, trade and consumers of Asia are incredibly fortunate to have you tell the story ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’.
Thanks Hamish from the Saint Clair Team
