At the invitation of the Family Winemakers of California, an association representing more than 740 family-owned wineries, Mr. Jeff Leung, Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco, attended the annual wine tasting event at Fort Mason, San Francisco on August 24.

Prior to the visit to the wine tasting event, Director Leung gave a presentation to its board members who expressed interest in the exciting business opportunities in Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong is becoming a wine hub. With the reduction of wine duties to zero, Hong Kong is the first free wine port among major economies. Coupled with our modern infrastructure and world-class service as well as know-how to enter the China market, Hong Kong is poised to be a great wine trading, distribution and storage center,” said Mr. Jeff Leung at the presentation.

“In addition to training wine specialist, we also have special customs procedures to tailor for the wine industry. We are also determined to tackle counterfeit wines. No fake wines have been reported in Hong Kong in recent years,” he continued.

Mr. Leung encouraged the members of Family Winemakers of California to see for themselves the wine industry in Hong Kong by participating in the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair, which will be held in Hong Kong in November.

A special trailer of CNBC’s program, Wine Portfolio, was shown to the board members at the presentation. The host of Wine Portfolio and his crew was in Hong Kong this spring to interview the industry experts. The episode on Hong Kong will debut in late September on CNBC World.

Family Winemakers of California draws its membership from Mendocino County in the North to Ramona Valley in the South. The wine tasting event features close to 400 family-owned wineries from California’s top wine regions.