New ‘wine studio’ launches in HK

Beta, a private members wine club which aims to “create a whole new era in wine retail” has opened in Hong Kong.

Hidden away in a basement unit on 46 Elgin Street in Central, Beta Wine Studio looks more a living room with dark leather sofas, velvet curtains, Iranian rugs and fancy artwork on the walls. A collaboration between Hong Kong wine importer, Red Mill Limited and online wine magazine, Wine Times Hong Kong, Beta’s aim is to “create a whole new era in wine retail.”

Beta is a private members studio that has a wide ranging assortment of wines from everyday drinking to “special occasion wines” with a constantly changing wine list.  Rather than being a “browsing-the-shelves” retail store, the owners, Ali Nicol and Jad Sfeir want to make customers feel like they’re at home before handing them the extensive wine list with staff on hand to assist.

“It’s a place of wine nirvana where you can interact with winemakers, take part in tutored tastings, get educated about wine and overall find the wine that suits your palate the best”, said Ali Nicol, general manager of Red Mill and founder of Wine Times to the drinks business Hong Kong.

“I don’t want people to buy wines purely based on price or by the label. When you come in, you won’t see any bottles as they are all in temperature controlled fridges. But customers will be presented with our wine list and we will sit down with them in order to help them make their decision.

Beta members will also have exclusive invitations to meet winemakers (Chris Mullineux from South Africa’s Mullineux Family Wines is in residence tomorrow), take part in members-only events and sample their chosen wines before purchasing.

“We are more focused on the wines of the Old World,” continued Nicol.

“Our strength is French and Italian, but we also have wines from Spain, South Africa and some ‘odd balls’ such as wines from Armenia, Japan and China. We also have a full flight of wines from 1990 to 2012 from Lebanon’s Chateau Ksara available.”