Hong Kong residents can now purchase, for the first time, selected French wines from the Galatée – Divine Ivresse collection launched by wine consultant Galatée Faivre last week.
The offer includes rare red wines from France’s three winemaking regions: Burgundy, Bordeaux and Languedoc-Roussillon, as well as a Portuguese eau de vie.
Ms. Faivre is launching her latest collection in Hong Kong, which she sees as an upcoming centre of the wine world. “Hong Kong people have been in contact with a lot of wine and [they're] looking for something different”, she says.
The idea of a wine collection, which she compares to haute couture, first came to Ms. Faivre when asked by friends in New York, Tokyo and Seoul to assemble unique wine packages for birthdays and holiday gifts. This idea became the launching pad for her own brand, Galatée – Divine Ivresse, created two years ago.
Ms. Galatée Faivre grew up in a winemaking family in southern France, where she now lives with her 6-years-old son Gaspard. Her professional career in the wine industry spans over 20 years. With a business education in marketing, she describes her work today as that of a “spiritual doctor” for winemakers, combining the duties of a chief winemaker, critic and a marketing consultant. She works with small-scale, family wineries to help develop and maintain the identity of their wine style.
Building close relationships with winemakers is key to Ms. Faivre’s work and success. It also gives her access to small batches of wine that producers would traditionally keep for themselves or sell locally. Having earned their trust, she is able to source some of the best and most unique wines for her own collection.
Representing three French regions and winemaking traditions, 2013 collection, is united by the consistency of the wines’ style: their balance, elegance, authenticity and expression of terroir. The highlight is a 2009 Pommard 1er Cru, a hand-picked, single-vine pinot noir. Ms. Faivre says Pommard wines will be a rarity in the next five years due to unfavorable weather conditions the area recently suffered.
Wines in the collection are priced between HK$ 800 and HK$ 2000 per bottle and are stored and shipped from one of Hong Kong’s top wine cellars.
For her next collection, Ms. Faivre intends to address what she sees as a limited champagne selection in Hong Kong.
To order visit www.galatee.com