FRANCE’S MOST famous luxury goods empire simply refuses to rest on its laurels. With its first vintage of domestic Indian sparkling due for release this year and confirmation of its desire to produce still red wine in southern China, the conglomerate is perhaps intent on starting production in every major Asian country.

FORAYS INTO CHINA

Moët & Chandon has been making wine outside of Champagne since the 1950s, when it created Chandon Argentina and subsequently founded a sparkling brand in California in 1973. In addition, Domaine Chandon Australia, founded in 1986, has become a respected source of premium sparkling and still wines from Victoria’s Yarra Valley. In addition, Moët- Hennessy’s acquired Chinese brand Wenjun, a large-scale producer of the white spirit, baiju in 2007 and, more recently has begun work on a new sparkling wine venture in China called Chandon Ningxia.

Such an important venture clearly required a trusted and experienced pair of hands to ensure its success. Enter Mark Bedingham, managing director of Moët- Hennessy Asia Pacific. He has been quite candid about the project’s bureaucratic challenges, although Bedingham naturally remains confident that Chandon Ningxia will be a commercial success. “There are a number of regulatory hurdles that need to be overcome, but with time and patience this will be possible and we have been able to develop our projects (thus far) relatively smoothly,” he states. 

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