Yuan 开元 France’s Château Bel Air Joins the Elite Ranks of Bordeaux Wines
Hangzhou, July 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, in a medieval Catholic church in Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, France, Chen Miaolin, the new proprietor of Yuan 开元 France’s Château Bel Air and Chairman of Yuan 开元 Tourism Group, was awarded the Knight’s Medal by the Commanderie du Bontemps de Médoc, des Graves, de Sauternes et de Barsac (Lurton Wine Association) in recognition of his contributions to the promotion of French wine culture and the advancement of Sino-French friendship. Yuan 开元 Tourism Group acquired Château Bel Air in Bordeaux on December 19 last year. Three years ago, the famous Chinese actress Zhao Wei, as the proprietor of Château Monlot, also received the Knight’s Medal from the Lurton Association in this very church.
The award ceremony was attended by over 1,000 people, including nearly 100 local French and Hollywood media reporters. Other notable figures who received the Knight’s Medal this year included renowned French actress Julie Gayet, the current partner of French President François Hollande, and former French Finance Minister François Baroin. After a solemn and sacred mass, the awarding ceremony officially began. A total of 50 recipients of the Knight’s Medal were honored that day. On the dais, the Chairman of the Knight’s Committee personally bestowed the medal on Chairman Chen Miaolin and presented the certificate of investiture. In the award speech, the Lurton Wine Association welcomed this Chinese face into the Wine Knights and thanked Yuan 开元 Tourism Group for its contributions to the dissemination and sales of Bordeaux wines in China following the acquisition of Château Bel Air. He said Chairman Chen Miaolin is a person well-versed in French wine culture. Yuan 开元 Hotel Group is one of China’s largest private high-star hotel chains, and the wines from Yuan 开元 Château Bel Air also have a long history and exceptional quality. He believes that Bordeaux wines will flourish across China along with the widespread presence of Yuan 开元 hotels.
In an interview with reporters after the award ceremony, Chairman Chen Miaolin stated that winning the Wine Knight’s Medal was mainly due to not only rescuing a vineyard that was operating at a loss, but more importantly, opening up a new pathway for French wines to enter the Chinese market in his own way. As a vineyard producing 200,000 bottles of wine per year, Château Bel Air was not doing well before.
However, not long ago, when the first batch of 47,000 bottles of wine produced by Château Bel Air arrived in China, it sparked a sales boom, with some varieties even selling out temporarily. “Of these, 17,000 bottles were exported, and the remaining 30,000 bottles are for hotel use,” Chen Miaolin said. He believes that his approach relies on the strong hotel supply chain resources of Yuan 开元 Tourism Group.
He said that as one of the largest private high-star hotel chains in China, Yuan 开元 has extensive sales channels and a high-quality customer base. In addition to its nationwide hotels, Yuan 开元 has developed a significant number of ordinary real estate projects, and with its own property management companies, a nationwide wine sales network has already been established. Especially the hotel supply aspect ensures the smooth flow of wine sales channels. Yuan 开元 is also continuously making various efforts to improve wine quality. More importantly, the investment strategy set by Yuan 开元 when acquiring Château Bel Air last year has already taken effect, such as the operational model. According to Chen Miaolin, after the acquisition of the vineyard, the original seven staff members, including the general manager and winemaker, remained unchanged, and the original team was retained. During the grape harvest season, the additional pickers hired were also locals. “The most obvious sign is that the son of the previous owner, who was the general manager of Château Bel Air, is still the general manager today,” Chen Miaolin said. Even the most core financial personnel, who are crucial to business operations, were not sent by the Chinese side but hired locally in France. And in the eyes of the French, this is a very important matter, beneficial for stabilizing local employment.
Moreover, when acquiring the vineyard, Yuan 开元 signed relevant agreements with the other party. According to the agreement, the annual production and price of the vineyard were stipulated, and for the premium portion, both parties will share a certain percentage. At the same time, Yuan 开元 will spend money annually to replace 30 oak barrels in the vineyard to ensure wine quality. “In the past six months, Yuan 开元 has spent over 50,000 euros just on replacing oak barrels,” Chen Miaolin stated. Yuan 开元 plans to complete the replacement of all oak barrels within four years, which is also the most valued aspect in the French wine industry.
After the award ceremony, Chairman Chen Miaolin also led Yuan 开元 France’s Château Bel Air to participate in VINEXPO, the world’s top international wine and spirits exhibition, held in Bordeaux from June 14 to 18. The Vinexpo International Wine Exhibition was founded in 1981 by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and is held in Bordeaux every odd-numbered year, with 2015 marking the 18th edition.
In addition to promoting Château Bel Air at the booth during the Bordeaux International Wine and Spirits Exhibition, Chairman Chen Miaolin also revealed an important plan for Yuan 开元: Yuan 开元 will acquire an additional 21 hectares of vineyards around Château Bel Air to further increase the yield of the Bel Air estate, enhance the quality of Bel Air wine, and meet the eager demand of guests at Yuan 开元 hotels across China. In Chen Miaolin’s view, the acquisition of Château Bel Air by Yuan 开元 is just the first step, and purchasing 21 hectares of land is the second. “Recently, I have also looked at five vineyards in France and am preparing to acquire 1 to 2 more,” Chen Miaolin said. The vineyards that Yuan 开元 plans to acquire next are all positioned as high-end, differing from the wines of Château Bel Air. This statement, in the eyes of the reporter, seems like Yuan 开元 is bottom-fishing in Europe.
Chen Miaolin believes that there are mainly two types of successful cross-border vineyard operators: those related to the hotel industry and those with celebrity influence. “Behind these two types of investors, the key is having smooth sales channels and a mature distribution network,” Chen Miaolin said. He has analyzed numerous similar cases and concluded that other types of investors not related to these two investor groups mostly end in failure.
“According to the plan, currently Château Bel Air produces 200,000 bottles of wine per year. Of these, 20,000 bottles are supplied to the local French market, and the profit earned from this portion is only enough to maintain the normal operation of the vineyard,” Chen Miaolin said. The remaining 180,000 bottles are all supplied to the domestic market, of which 80,000 bottles are sold externally, and 100,000 bottles are supplied to the group’s own hotels. “The domestic market is used to generate profits.” Chen Miaolin said that under this strategy, it can be said that the recent hot sales of the first batch of Yuan 开元 wines in China mean that this once loss-making French vineyard has started to turn a profit in less than half a year.