【英语生活】葡萄酒行业最具影响力人物榜

Now that China has ramped up its wine consumption, the Middle Kingdom is also gaining respect in the industry.

Wine magazine Decanter published its 2011 power list this week, ranking the 50 most influential people in the industry. Not only do five people on the list reside in China or Hong Kong, but Asian consumption patterns are also changing the wine world, even in traditional powerhouse countries such as France, said Guy Woodward, editor of Decanter.

'In China and Asia, the rate of change is so fast and the potential so large that that influence is brought to bear across the global market as a whole,' Mr. Woodward said.

The highest-ranked wine influencer in China is seventh-ranked Don St. Pierre Jr., the Canadian chief executive of ASC wines, the country's biggest wine importer. Just behind him, in eighth place, is Wu Fei, chairman and general manager of Cofco Wines & Spirits, a Chinese state-owned company that owns the Chinese-made Great Wall brand of wines and has been on a global buying spree, snapping up vineyards in Chile and France.

China's thirst for wine is re-shaping the ranks of movers and shakers in Europe as well. Take Eric de Rothschild, who is listed as the second-most powerful person in the wine world, after Pierre Pringuet, the chief executive of drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard. Mr. de Rothschild, who was ranked 20th the last time the power list was compiled, two years ago, is president of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), which owns Château Lafite, a top Bordeaux that has become wildly popular among China's wealthy. Prices of bottles of Château Lafite have soared as Chinese demand has jumped—at an October Sotheby's sale in Hong Kong, three bottles of Château Lafite-Rothschild 1869 sold for 1.8 million Hong Kong dollars (US$232,693) each.

'[Mr. de Rothschild] is now seen as the owner of the most sought-after wine in the world because of what's going on in Asia,' said Mr. Woodward.

But when it comes to the tastes of the masses, turn to Cofco boss Mr. Fei, who made it onto the list because of the state-owned company's unmatched influence over the Chinese market—Cofco is the country's largest domestic wine producer.

'Not everyone is drinking Lafite,' said Mr. Woodward. 'There's a question on how the wine market will develop with the man on the street. What sorts of wine will they want to drink? Cofco will have a huge influence on that and has the power to shape the domestic market quite a lot in terms of quality of Chinese-made wine.'

Other China-related players on the list include Robert Shum, founder of the Chinese retail chain Aussino World Wines, and Ch'ng Poh Tion, a Chinese wine columnist who also writes for Decanter. The list was compiled by consulting several wine experts around the world. Decanter said it was admittedly 'unscientific' in its methodology.

'I think what will be interesting to watch is how tastes are defined in China,' said Mr. Woodward. 'For example, in the past, in the U.K. and the U.S., it was Robert Parker who was huge in shaping consumer tastes. It'll be interesting [to see] how Chinese consumers choose their wines. Will they be influenced by the critics or will they just have the confidence of going with their own palate? The real question is on how consumer tastes develop.'

Getty Images亚洲的消费模式正在改变着整个葡萄酒行业。
由于中国人葡萄酒消费量的稳步增加，这个顾名思义为“中央王国”的国家在这个行业里也日益显现出了自身的分量。

葡萄酒杂志《品醇客》（Decanter）上周公布了2011年该行业最具影响力的50人名单。《品醇客》编辑盖伊•伍德沃（Guy Woodward）说，名单中有五位人士生活在中国大陆和香港，而且，亚洲的消费模式正在改变着整个葡萄酒行业，甚至影响到了法国和其他传统的葡萄酒大国。

伍德沃说，“在中国和亚洲，变化的速度如此之快，潜力如此之大，这种影响已经扩展到整个全球市场。”

位列葡萄酒行业最具影响力人物榜单第七位的中国区人物是加拿大人沈品同（Don St. Pierre Jr.），他是圣皮尔精品酒业公司（ASC wines）的首席执行长，该公司是中国最大的葡萄酒进口商。紧随其后排在第八位的是中粮酒业有限公司（Cofco Wines & Spirits）总经理吴飞。这是一家中国国有企业，旗下拥有中国酿制的长城葡萄酒品牌，并在全球范围内发动了大规模收购活动，迅速将智利和法国的数个葡萄园收入囊中。

中国市场对葡萄酒的渴求还改写了欧洲葡萄酒行业最具影响力人物的排名顺序。以埃里克•德•罗斯柴尔德（Eric de Rothschild）为例，在今年的榜单中，罗斯柴尔德是仅次于饮料巨头保乐力加（Pernod Ricard）执行长圣皮尔•普林格特（Pierre Pringuet）而位列第二的葡萄酒行业最具影响力人物。而在两年前，这位罗斯柴尔德男爵（拉菲）集团（Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite)）的总裁在榜单中排名仅仅是第20位。拉菲集团旗下的拉菲酒是一种极受中国富豪追捧的顶级波尔多葡萄酒。拉菲酒的价格因为中国市场需求的迅速增加而飞涨——去年十月份苏富比拍卖行（Sotheby’s）在香港举行的拍卖会上，1869年酿制的三瓶拉菲酒每瓶拍出180万港币（折合约232,693美元）的天价。

伍德沃说，“由于亚洲市场的热捧，[罗斯柴尔德]已成为人们心目中世界上最受追捧的葡萄酒品牌的所有者。”

而谈到大众市场的偏好时，就不能不提吴飞了。吴飞榜上有名，是因为他所在的国企对中国市场具有无可匹敌的影响力——中粮集团是中国最大的国产葡萄酒酿造商。

伍德沃说，“不是每个人都喝拉菲。因此就需要关注这样一个问题，普通消费的葡萄酒市场会如何发展？普通消费者想喝什么酒？中粮集团在这方面影响巨大，有能力在中国国产葡萄酒的品质方面影响中国国内市场。”

最具影响力名单上其他和中国有关的人物还有中国零售连锁企业富隆酒业（Aussino World Wines）的创立者沈宇辉和同时也给《品醇客》攥写文章的中国葡萄酒专栏作家庄布忠。这个最具影响力人物名单是通过咨询全球多位葡萄酒专家编纂而成的。《品醇客》表示，从方法上看，这个排名肯定“不科学”。

伍德沃说，“我觉得，关注中国人怎样形成自己的口味会很有意思。例如，在过去，在培养英国和美国消费者口味方面，罗伯特•派克（Robert Parker）起到了相当大的作用。关注中国消费者选择什么样的葡萄酒，将是一件很有意思的事情。他们是根据评酒人的评论做选择，还是跟着自己舌头的感觉走？真正的问题是，消费者如何形成自己的口味。”