War bunker back on duty to protect HK’s finest wines
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IN high-rise, high-priced Hong Kong, even millionaires don’t always have room to store their fine wine collection at home, but a converted old war bunker offers space-crunched oenophiles the perfect solution.
Built in the 1930s to hold munitions, the “Little Hong Kong” bunker complex was the last Allied position to fall to the invading Japanese on December 27, 1941.
Collectors may rest assured that this spirit endures, says Gregory De ’Eb, company principal of Crown Wine Cellars.
“We have great feng shui here. Nobody died, last place to surrender — it was all good,” he said.
The firm has converted the sprawling complex into state of the art wine storage. Six of the Central Ordnance Munitions Depot bunkers have been transformed in to what he describes as “the Rolls Royce of wine cellars.”
Carved out of Hong Kong’s hills, protected by reinforced concrete and soil, the complex, whose sensitive restoration even received a nod from UNESCO, offers one of the most secure environments possible for wine.
“If you give us one bottle of 1982 Petrus that your grandfather gave to you, his signature on the top left hand corner, we make absolutely sure that your bottle will never be interchanged with any other,” said De ’Eb. “In 50 years time we will give that bottle back to you. It’s so important.”
He said the wine vaults were built in accordance to the US standard for gold bullion, while overall security at the bunkers drew inspiration from methods employed by the diamond industry in his native South Africa.
Staff must wear wetsuits when entering the cellars — an anti-theft measure to ensure nothing can be smuggled out in clothing, and some vaults require three people to simultaneously input codes in order to access them.
Clients are not allowed to enter the main storage warehouses, but can request to view their wine collection in small rooms, closely monitored by security cameras.
Such measures are not just for show. The cellar holds two of the world’s most expensive bottles of wine sold at auction — Chateau Lafite 1869 that went under the hammer in 2010 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, fetching HK$1.8 million (US$232,692) apiece.
Thanks to Hong Kong’s concentration of wealth, the city has become a world capital for fine wine.
The city hosts Vinexpo, Asia’s largest wine and spirits fair, and has become a major hub for fine wine sales across Asia, thanks in part to a decision in 2008 to drop import duties on wine.
Imports have grown exponentially — to US$1.5 billion in 2015, up from US$206 million in 2007 according to Hong Kong Trade Development Council figures.
The city is a key gateway to the vast, lucrative Chinese market, but of the 63.3 million liters of wine imported into Hong Kong in 2015, just 27.2 million was re-exported to the mailand — highlighting the city’s love affair with grapes.
Astronomical real estate prices coupled with Hong Kong’s hot and humid environment mean that “wine storage really is a growing business,” said Korean wine expert Jeannie Cho Lee.
“It’s not like in France where everyone has a basement under their house,” said wine importer Alex Yim. “In Hong Kong, you even need to find a place to store your clothes,” he added, referring to the city’s small but expensive apartments.
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