Thu 15 Aug 2013
The HKIWSC talks to the wine judge Tersina Shieh about the benefits of entering wine and spirit competitions
“I do believe competitions can be of great value in the developing markets. The results serve as guidelines for the inexperienced consumer, helping him select wine from the myriad available in the marketplace. He may not like the style of a wine but at least he knows its quality has been independently assessed. After accumulating some experience he can then move on with confidence to try other non-competition wines and be able to differentiate their quality levels for himself.
Wine competitions can thus bring wine closer to consumers, helping to expand the market and so benefiting all wines whether they are entered in competitions or not.
With so many competitions around—big and small, international and local—their reputations and degree of recognition are all-important. Proactive consumer marketing of a competition is as essential as attracting entries. The more that consumers recognize a competition and its credibility the more confidence they will have in buying the winning wines. And these purchases will generate a positive feedback, attracting more, and better entries next year.
And whatever the status of a competition, producers and distributors should be proud of their trophies and medals, and utilize them as marketing tools. It should never be an embarrassment to tell your customers that your wines are among the best!”
More about Tersina Shieh 謝德蘭 (Hong Kong):Born in Hong Kong, Tersina Shieh is a wine marketing consultant and writer. She contributes to the South China Morning Post, WINE (China) and writes her own blog. A judge at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition since 2011, she has also judged at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and the Annual Wines of Chile Awards. In addition to her wine-making qualifications, Tersina also holds an MBA and is a Chartered Marketer, (click to full bio) or find her on Facebook: tersina.shieh.1
