He opened bottle after bottle of his wines and shared Mas’s story. “I invited private customers to my home and tried to build a relationship with so many communitiesFinding the right distributor is the key to success. For instance, in Singapore, he found like-minded people at Vintage Wine Club, his new wine stockist, who supported him with optimal services like WhatsApp orders and next-day deliveries.
Those two things – connecting with people and distributor efficiency – helped Mas de Daumas Gassac, he concluded. “From 2017 to 2022, we increased eight times in value and 12 times in volume.”Guibert shared three key observations of Singapore's ever-evolving wine market.First, the growth of the online wine sales market changed the landscape. “In many Asian markets like Taiwan and Korea, online wine sales are forbidden. But for Singapore, having wine delivered to homes really helped.
Second, he noticed that Singapore’s fine wine consumers were maturing, which succoured Guibert’s cause. “In your journey into wine, you start with the big regions. Bordeaux and Burgundy and then, Rhone.” After a while, wine collectors look for something new, and Guibert identified that “Languedoc has a dimension in this journey.” Earlier, no one visited Languedoc from Asia. Now, after 20 visits to Bordeaux and another 20 to Burgundy, the rural and raw Languedoc has started to appeal to seasoned Asian wine tourists.
Lastly, Guibert revelled in the maturity of the wine ecosystem. “Growth is not restricted to drinkers, but also the sommeliers, distributors, and restaurants. You need a sommelier association, education, restaurants who have the courage to bring the wines and then comes the clientele.