Napa Wineries Reach for Gold in China
By Louisa Huffstader
They may be older than the average Olympian, but that's not keeping a team of Napa Valley vintners from going for gold in China this year. Dan Capp, of Twin Creeks Vineyard in Wooden Valley, is captaining an effort to gain Chinese distribution for his Lakeside Wine Company and several other family vintners.
"Small guys don't have a chance of getting over there unless we combine," Capp says.
Napa Valley wines may be famous around the world, but in China, they're hard to find. On a marketing trip to China, Capp and his wife Marguerite dined at one of the finest restaurants in Shanghai, known for its high-end clientele. Leafing through the 30-page wine list, they found exactly four California wines - not one from Napa or Sonoma.
"That's a representation of what we have over there right now," Capp says. "And that's disgusting."
The Capps were in China to follow up on a chance encounter in Italy between an attorney friend and a coach for the Chinese Olympic boxing team, who had found little good wine to drink in the world's most populous country.
Intrigued by the possibilities, the Capps made contact with the coach and his wife, and in March of this year they traveled to China for two weeks. During their visit, the Napa couple met Olympic coaches and athletes as well as with the country's ministers of transportation and tourism and trade, Capp explains.
"They control many restaurants in China," he continues - and 25,000 government-owned hotels. "We've been able to establish a relationship with these Chinese officials and other hotel chains: The Marriott hotels in Shanghai are also interested in taking our wines on."
Retail chains may also carry the Napa wines, if all goes well. And to help promote Capp's brand, several Chinese athletes - both medalists in past Olympics and hopefuls in this summer's Games - have agreed to endorse the wines from Twin Creeks.
"We wanted to bring some other small wineries over there with us to take advantage of these opening doors," says Capp, who invited more than a half-dozen other vintners to take part in the Chinese venture.
Muir-Hanna Vineyard Estates, Volker Eisele Family Estates, Kirkland Ranch Winery, Andretti Winery, Shannon Ridge Vineyards and Eagle Eye Wines are joining the enterprise.
"Because we are small, unless we combine forces and pool our resources none of us could afford to do this," Capp continues, explaining that Chinese wine sales are dominated by two or three massive distributors and a handful of international brands.
"We're kind of sliding under the radar here," says Capp, who has already opened an office in Beijing for his new company, California-Asia Wine Exchange.
The Capps hope their new business will grow as wine drinkers in China discover the pleasures of Napa Valley vintages.
"I've only tasted one (Chinese) wine," says Bill Hanna of Muir-Hanna Vineyard Estates, recalling a bottle labeled Great Wall. "It was not particularly tasty."
Muir-Hanna is sending its top-of-the-line Bordeaux-style blend, Muir's Legacy, to the Chinese market, to "try to get a few yen over here instead of dollars going that way all the time," he continues. "If we have something they want, we darn well better be pushing it over there."
Volker Eisele Family Vineyards will send its semillon-sauvignon blanc Gemini blend and its cabernet sauvignon to China.
"The Capps are doing a nice job of organizing this, and we'll take it from there," says Volker Eisele.
For now, only Dan and Marguerite Capp are traveling between the U.S. and China to pursue the new venture; other vintners are staying closer to home. Says Roxanne Wolf, of Eagle Eye in Napa Valley: "At least our wine will be there, and it will have a great time, I'm sure."