My guess is this effort is related to Les. I posted this in the thread on the same subject in NBA Dish: Les is in the wine business in China...I wonder if Les is distributing this wine there using Yao's name for branding/marketing purposes? http://www.nba.com/rockets/community...07773-822.html Leslie Alexander’s passion for wine led him to purchase land in North Fork, Long Island to start a vineyard. The vineyard was planted in 2001 under David Abreu’s direction and supervision, with the best French rootstock to suit the sandy soil and mild climate. Robert Parker has called Abreu the best viticulturist in the United States, and he is in charge of many of Napa Valley’s most prestigious vineyards including Harlan, Bryant and Screaming Eagle. Alexander’s vineyard consists of five acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, sixteen acres of Merlot, one acre of Pinot Noir and one acre of Chardonnay. After six years of cultivation, Alexander launched Leslie Wine in 2008, which is currently selling four exceptional 2007 vintage wines exclusively in China.
Most people can't tell the difference and pick their wines based on the price and the picture on the label. Yao's label is boring as hell, so I predict it founders.
If only 1% of China's 1.3 billion people love vino, that's 13 million swigging it down. I suspect that it's more than 1%.
This, plus tastes and cultures change. As China's wealthy elite grows, expect the consumption of wine to increase as well.
No doubt, and while the majority of the Chinese people have a ways to go to become as prosperous as the average American or European, there are still an enormous number of folks who could afford good wine, although this seems to be amazingly expensive vino!
Caveat emptor - Yao's vintages are pretty decent for the first few years, then slowly begin to break down, oxidize, and become basically an expensive bottle of vinegar taking up space in your limited cellar at the end. *rimshot*
First bottle sold for 150,000 Chinese Renminbi at an auction, which is maybe 20,000 USD. In other news, he looks overweight
The economic disparity in China is quite large. If you are a government official living in the big cities, you have so much money in the bank, you probably lost count. Hear of plenty of stories how government officials gets a lot of bribes and them and their kids spend money like it is water out of a faucet. $289 for a bottle is chump change to them.
