UNDERSTANDING TASTE AND EXPECTATION OF WINE CONSUMERS IN ASIAN MARKETS

There is, for better or for worse, no such thing as a typical Asian consumer. Indians are different from Chinese; Koreans from Japanese; Singaporeans from Malaysians; and Thais from Indonesians. In China, the birthplace of tea, people in the north prefer the partly fermented oolong tea to the unfermented green tea which is the favourite in Shanghai. The Asian palate has no problem appreciating nuances in taste and layers of flavours because of our exposure to so many different cuisine, ingredients, dishes and foods but when it comes to wine, even though our tastebuds are sophisticated, because wine is something new, most consumers are puzzled and confused that there are so many types and brands of wines. To speak of Asian wine consumers having “expectations” concerning wine is to imagine that Asians are thinking a lot about wine in the first place. This is not the situation.