Q&A: Eddie McDougall celebrates 10 years in wine

Eddie McDougall, the young and dynamic winemaker, has proven that he’s here to stay in Hong Kong’s fast-changing wine circuit. From championing Australian wines and rosé to locally produced wines in Asia, the winemaker is now celebrating 10 years of his eponymous Eddie McDougall Wines since its launch in 2008. The wine collection has now grown to encompass a few diverse ranges under ‘Umami’, ‘Urban Project’ and ‘King Valley’, using grapes including Shiraz  and Italian varieties such as Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio. Now with a decade behind him, McDougall is looking ahead. With his recent purchase of New Zealand’s Gladstone Vineyard, the winemaker seems to have found his next challenge – to make “world-class, New World Pinot Noir”. In the interview with dbHK, McDougall shares his views on the challenges of rosé wine in Asia and the future of region’s wine industry in general, as well as the lessons he learned building up his brand.

Q: You have just celebrated 10 years of Eddie McDougall Wines. What are the most important lessons you learned along the way to creating and promoting your own wines in Asia? 

EM:There have been many lessons I have learnt since I launched my brand in Asia around the year 2011. The first big lesson I learnt early was that Asian consumers are very brand driven, influenced by third party reviews and rarity. Many consumers at the onset of the wine boom in Asia didn’t have much general knowledge about wine, let alone about the geographical regions where they are made. Other than the big name regions like Bordeaux, Napa and Barossa, many others were not relevant or lowly regarded. For me, this was particularly challenging as I built my brand in the Australian domestic market which focused on the production of Italian wine varietals from places like the King Valley or Pinot Noir from Bannockburn, Victoria. These regions were unknown in Asia, coupled with the fact that the varietals I used had very strong Old World origins, hence consumers would often just stick to what they know, eg. Sangiovese from Tuscany as opposed to the King Valley, or Pinot Noir from Burgundy.

As a result of this, I realised that education was critical to be successful and I needed to influence those not yet influenced or those willing to listen to something uniquely different from the norm. This has taken time, patience, and the support of a strong branded platform like The Flying Winemaker.

Now I must say people have become very educated, excited and more risky in wine buying, which means what I have been steadily doing over the years is starting to pay off and consumers are interested in a Pinot Grigio from Australia as opposed to Veneto or Fruili.

Q: You have purchased New Zealand’s Gladstone Vineyard together with Odyssey Capital Group. What can we look forward to from the winery this year? 

EM: We are at the closing stages of settlement of this business and vineyard, which is very exciting for me personally and The Flying Winemaker Group. I believe this foray into the New Zealand winemaking scene is a premium wine play for my portfolio of wines and ultimately with a very clear intention of making world-class, New World Pinot Noir. The site is amazing, the brand has been around for over 20 years so the chance to be its new custodian is an opportunity I can’t wait to take on.

Q: You have been a promoter of rosé wine in the Asia market. A lot of progress has been made, but what do you think still remains the biggest hurdle in growing the rosé category?

EM: The biggest hurdle in the rosé category now is to educate consumers that rosé wine can have a variety of tiers from entry/mass level, to premium and fine wines. The consumers at this stage still only recognise it as a great all-day wine or dim sum brunch wine but there are some producers out there like myself who are making “serious” rosé that is structured, focused on secondary flavours and possibility of cellaring potential. There is really an education process and also a value perception change that is needed.

Q: Asia has grown not only to be a major wine consumption hub, but also a producing powerhouse. Do you think locally produced wines are going to take up bigger market share in the next few years in this region? 

EM: Yes absolutely. Locally produced wines will take up presence in the market. All it takes is government regulation on imported wines or increased tariffs of certain countries’ wines then the local producers are much more competitive. Quality wise there’s not a doubt they can compete, and in time they will be very competitive. When the big shift will happen? I think this is still 10-15 years away yet as we wait to see the vines mature and the experience of local winemaker/viticulturalists grow. 

Q: When it comes to Asia, all eyes are on China. What are the other exciting Asian markets you can identify for wine consumption growth in the future? 

EM: Yes all eyes are on China, but there are many lesser exciting countries that are under serviced by producers such as Korea, Taiwan and India.

*The article will also appear in the Dec/Jan issue of the drinks business Hong Kong.