Hong Kong collectors ‘demand new storage experience’

Hong Kong is still the place for serious wine fanatics who demand more in terms of how they store their wine when space is at a premium, says the design director of Sensis, Jean-Baptiste Ponsot.

Jean-Baptiste and Lucas in the Sensis studio in Causeway Bay

“Let’s face it, the subject of wine storage can be quite dull,” declared Jean-Baptiste Ponsot, the design director of Sensis which creates free-standing units, custom fridges and cellars for Hong Kong’s most demanding wine collectors.

“Stakeholders are wanting a new experience with how they keep their wine. Nobody wants a unit which just stands in the corner of the living room, which doesn’t fit in with the existing interior design. And every collector is different, each place will have different light, humidity and vibration levels.”

Together with Lucas Briceno the creative director, Jean-Baptiste, aims to provide wine storage which suits Hong Kong’s typical conditions which includes high humidity and generally extremely little space.

Collectors often have red, white and sparkling wines which all need to be stored at different temperatures long-term, according to the Sensis climate indications: red wine at 12C and white and sparkling wines at 10C.

“It’s an interesting conundrum,” said Lucas. “You have some very serious wine collectors – some of the biggest players in the world – who have no room for an original underground cellar but demand the best in design. We have to master every aspect from which direction the sunlight enters the room to high security measures such as face recognition,” – though he stresses that this is only for the custom storage – a search for quality which can run into the millions of Hong Kong dollars.

Having found a comfortable niche in Hong Kong, working in partnership with the wine merchant Victoria Wine Cellars, Sensis has expanded its operations with the launch of Sensis studio in Causeway Bay where wine tasting events will be in the offing for 2016.

Sensis’ free standing models include the Distal with the capacity for 33 bottles and retails for HK$8,990, the Proximal which holds 88 bottles and is priced at HK$15,990 and the Metacarpal, a 154-bottle megalithic unit with a $22,990 price tag.

“Hong Kong’s generation of wine collectors is evolving,” said Jean-Baptiste, “and the market is becoming more interesting. Next year, new behaviours, new products. We have to anticipate what our stakeholders have in mind, which currently looks like even bigger models and more imaginative ways to display or manage their collection. A recent trend is for whisky in their original boxes, wine and cigars to be housed all in the same unit with differing temperatures and humidity levels.”

In response to Hong Kong’s changing face of its average wine consumer, Sensis have planned a series of wine tastings next year with a twist, featuring wine and fragrance pairings with a parfumier all the way from Paris or analogic music and wine pairings, “Because wine have its reminiscence, just like music. You experience it a second time and it’ll take you right back to when you first had it,” said Lucas.

“We don’t just offer wine storage but a multi-sensory experience for our customers to get the best out of their wines and derive as much pleasure out of them for years to come.”