On January 8, 2013, Vats “ALUN’S CHOICE” was officially launched at 360buy Jingdong Mall (www.360buy.com)!

“ALUN’S CHOICE” project covers a series of wine that was carefully selected for wine enthusiasts by Vats Liquor Chain Store Management Joint Stock Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Vats Liquor”) and Alun Griffiths (hereinafter referred to as “Alun”), a world master of wine, at the beginning of 2014. This project has been officially launched at 360buy Jingdong Mall in January 2014 and will be launched at online shops like Tmall and Yihaodian.

The first 43 types of wine launched were carefully selected by Alun, the only world master of wine in China, from over 50 global production areas after tasting thousands of types of wine, which took 10 months. “ALUN’S CHOICE” aims to provide consumers with high-quality imported wine with high performance-price ratio and create exquisite life.

“We have only one goal- to ensure excellent quality and reasonable price of each wine bought by each consumer.” Alun said.

In January 2013, based on recognition of Vats Liquor’s business concept- “authentic products, top quality products, service and environment”, Alun joined Vats Liquor Chain Store Management Joint Stock Co., Ltd. In China, Alun tasted most of imported wine and domestic wine, and proposed the “VATS’S CHOICE” project to Chairman Wu Xiangdong. The chairman approved it and named it “ALUN’S CHOICE”.

Alun Griffiths, a world master of wine has 40-year experience in wine selection

Alun is 61 years old now. After graduating from Aberystwyth University in 1976, he has been engaged in wine industry for almost 40 years. In 1991, he was awarded the title of “Master of Wine” after a lot of selections and examinations, and was awarded the Bollinger Medal for excellent performance in examinations. Now there are only over 300 winners of this title globally.

Moreover, Alun is a member of Burgundy Tasting Knight Association, Pomerol Knight Association, Jurade de Saint-Emilion, and Medoc and Graves Knight Association. He has been the judge of international wine-tasting competitions (IWC and Decanter) for a long period.

Before joining Vats Liquor, he worked in a famous British wine company- Berry Brothers & Rudd (“BBR”) for 19 years. During that period, he selected wine for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles for a long period. Alun has spent most of his lifetime in tasting different types of wine from different regions.

So far, Alun has gone to over 1,000 wine production areas and over 1,000 vineyards in over 50 countries, and tasted over 40,000 types of wine. Such unique experiences make the value of “ALUN’S CHOICE” project more prominent.

“ALUN’S CHOICE” was carefully selected for excellent quality and reasonable price

“ALUN’S CHOICE” project was originally the “VATS’S CHOICE” project proposed by Alun to Chairman Wu Xiangdong of Vats Liquor, but the chairman determined the project’s name to be “ALUN’S CHOICE” because of senior background and unique experiences of Alun.

“ALUN’S CHOICE” is a platform that provides wine at different prices for consumers in Chinese market. It is a classic carefully chosen by Alun and his team from lots of wine products in the world. Thus, those good wine products with high performance-price ratio are born.

Alun Griffiths recently received an on-site interview with 15 mainstream media of China such as 21st Century Business Herald, China Business News, Wine Review, Sina, Tencent, Ifeng, Sohu and Netease at Vats Liquor headquarters in Beijing.
 

Q: Among so many platforms that operate wine businesses, why do you choose Vats Liquor?

Alun: I choose Vats Liquor because I identify with its business model and brand value a lot and I have confidence in the booming wine consumption market of China. As the largest wine chain company that ensures authentic products in China, Vats Liquor has always adhered to its business concept of “authentic products, top quality products, service and environment” and provided consumers with high-quality products, which is totally consistent with my personal concept. I also wish to finish a final sprint in my career through this platform.

In recent years, people in British wine business circle have been actively exploring Asian market which is considered as a place for expanding wine business. I worked in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. In China, I tasted most of imported wine and domestic wine and found high-quality products with high performance-price ratio are scarce resources in the market. So I have a lot of confidence. I wish I can use my professional knowledge to do some meaningful jobs in this emerging market poised for welcoming wine culture. 作。

Q: Within one year in China, what’s your experience and feeling?

Alun: After coming to China, I went to dozens of cities, had in-depth communication with thousands of Chinese consumers, and learned about demand and habit of Chinese consumers in detail. I find consumers are full of doubts about finding high-quality products that have high performance-price ratio and are suitable for them in the market. They’re eager for guidance from wine professionals. And in such aspects, “ALUN’S CHOICE” brand and I have advantages. Apart from introducing products with excellent quality and reasonable price carefully selected by us from thousands of vineyards to Chinese consumers, we have the mission of cultivating and communicating with consumers. I’m very confident about our future development.

Q: What’s your understanding of “ALUN’S CHOICE” brand?

Alun: The annual capacity of wine is about 37.5 billion bottles globally. For a wine enthusiast, he can only choose some well-known types of wine. The biggest risk is from wine with low quality which nearly accounts for over 98% based on our wine-tasting experience. It causes most of consumers to nearly lose confidence in tasting an unfamiliar type of wine.

“ALUN’S CHOICE” is a platform that aims to provide wine at different prices for the whole Chinese market. I, and my team, eliminated 98% wine after careful selection from lots of wine products globally and serious consideration. The rest of 2% classic has top quality in such aspects as representativeness of production areas, quality and performance-price ratio. They include products priced at RMB100 or RMB120, and top quality products of over thousands of yuan per bottle, and products at a moderate price. We have only one goal, to ensure excellent quality and reasonable price of each wine bought by each consumer. I wish to create “ALUN’S CHOICE” into a paradise of the world’s good wine. My team and I will make great efforts.

Q: As the international business director of Vats Liquor, what products do you wish to bring to consumers?

Alun: In my 40-year career, I’ve tasted over 40,000 types of wine in over 1,000 vineyards from over 50 countries and regions. So I’ve accumulated rich wine-tasting experience and knowledge on wine in places of origin. From lots of wine samples, my team and I selected some products with low price, distinctive features of production areas and high quality which will be introduced to Chinese consumers in the future.

Q: What is the future development plan on “ALUN’S CHOICE” project?

Alun: We’ll enrich our product lines, in order to bring more good wine to Chinese consumers. And “ALUN’S CHOICE” will be widely distributed in offline traditional channels to form online and offline combination. In the future, online platforms will be the main platforms for consumer communication and education and channels for purchasing “ALUN’S CHOICE” products. And offline platforms will be used for in-depth communication with consumers and activity experience.

We’ll also launch new products like “ALUN’S PARTY”, focus on emotional communication with consumers, stimulate consumers’ enthusiasm in participation and experience, and provide social interaction platforms for consumer groups with common values about life to share happiness. 

You can follow the official WeChat account of “ALUN’S CHOICE” by scanning the following QR Code: