Yao Ming gets into wine making; Starts Napa Valley wine company: NBA Update
Former Houston Rockets centre and legend of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Yao Ming had decided to launch his own line of wine, after taking retirement from the American league this offseason.
The company is called Napa Valley wine and the product will be launched by the name of Yao Family Wines.
This isn’t Ming’s first effort to set up a business, as he already owns Chinese basketball team Shanghai Sharks. Napa Valley wine will now be his second venture and the move comes after Ming completed a course from a top Chinese University to manage the business properly.
Yao became a wine lover after he joined National Basketball Association, where several of his colleagues often dined out. It was there that Yao started drinking California Cabernet and enhanced his knowledge about wine.
Ming said,
"I believe that wine can bring people together, and make our lives more enjoyable. Basketball gave me the opportunity to live in the United States and discover many wonderful things in America. Now I look forward to bringing great wines from California back to the Chinese people."
As result of that fondness and wine’s growing demand in the Chinese market, Yao and his management had started making efforts to create a fine wine about two years back. Yao’s company will produce its first winery this week with the name of 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, Yao’s home city.
The company has sourced this wine from the different Napa Valley vineyards. Well-known label maker Chuck House had designed this label the brand and Pernod Ricard China has the exclusive rights to import this label.
Managing Director of the company, Con Constandis said on this occasion, "Though we are a global company, we have strong local roots in China, which makes this strategic partnership with a man like Yao Ming as special as the quality wines themselves."
With this label Yao is looking to cater the elite class of China and will also look to capitalize the regional market as well. The cost of this brand’s bottle is $289 and it’ll be available for the United States market from next year.
Yao’s company will also launch another winery by the name of Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, but it’ll hit the markets in 2012.
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