HKSQ Wine Cellar Visit cum Wine Storage Management System Seminar

We appreciated China Merchants Wine Cellar (招商局紅酒窖) and HKQAA jointly arranged the wine cellar visit cum Wine Storage Management Systems (WSMS) Certification Scheme Seminar on 6 Jun 2014. This seminar and visit introduced the WSMS scheme and demonstrated both Fine Wine and Commercial Wine cellar settings in China Merchants Wine Cellar.

In the beginning, Mr. Zhang Hai Jian (Deputy General Manager, China Merchants Godown, Wharf & Transp. Co., Ltd) gave a welcome speech and introduced the background of China Merchants Wine Cellar. Mr. Zhang said they owned two modernized air-conditioned warehouse with total areas more than 500,000 sq.ft and their controlled temperature and humidity wine storage place was the first batch certified WSMS by HKQAA and their operation was under ISO 9001 QMS.

I represented HKSQ to present flag to Mr. Zhang.

And I also presented our 25th anniversary book.

Then Mr. Bryan Peng (Assistant Director, Manufacturing & Service Branch, HKQAA) was guest speaker to introduce the HKQAA Wine Storage Management Systems Certification Scheme.

The scheme started after the abolition of wine tax by Hong Kong government in 2008. HKQAA supported Hong Kong to be an international trading and distribution wine hub. Then Bryan briefed the recently situation of the Hong Kong Wine Industry.

The development of WSMS certification schemes were mentioned from storage to retailer and transportation from 2009 to 2011. Then Bryan briefed WSMS which separated into two parts. The Part 1 is system requirement included “Policy”, “Performance Measurement Indicators”, “Wine Storage Management Plan”, “Implementation of Management Plan”, “Monitoring and Measurement”, “Incident Handling”, and “Management Review and Improvement Action”.

The Part 2 is Code of Practices. Characteristics affect the quality of wine are “Temperature”, “Humidity”, “Lights”, Vibrations” and “Hygience”. Those affect the operation risk are “Insurance”, “Inventory Management”, “Security” and “Maintenance”.

After seminar, I presented HKSQ souvenir to Bryan.

Then Ms. Theresa S.W. Lau (Marketing Dept. Manager, China Merchants Godown, Wharf & Transp. Co., Ltd) led us to visit the wine cellar. There were 3 level security access controls. Smart card was used in lobby, lift and wine cellar entry (addition fingerprint scan in the entry).

The temperature for Fine wine requested by WSMS was from 11C to 17C but fluctuation within 3C per month / 5C per year. The actual temperature was observed to be around 13C. (Fine Wine made for consumption, private collection and / or auction purposes. It intended for long term storage and the storage condition would affect the value and taste of wines over time.)

Then we visited the cellar for Commercial Wine in which WSMS requested temperature from 11C to 22C. We observed the temperature of cellar was around 18C. (Commercial Wine intended for near consumption and fast turnover.)

Finally, we took a group photo in front of China Merchants Wine Cellar Brand for memory.

Reference:

Hong Kong - Asia's Wine Hub - http://www.wine.gov.hk/
China Merchants Wine Cellar - http://www.cmgwt.com.hk/aboutus.php

HKSQ Quality Life series wine related activities:
20140112 - HKSQ Oyster Shucking and Wine Pairing Workshop - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2014/01/hksq-oyster-shucking-and-wine-pairing.html
20140125 - HKSQ Seminar - A Strategic Direction for Hong Kong Wine Industry - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2014/01/hksq-seminar-strategic-direction-for.html
20140601 - Visit to Smartway’s Innohub (Good for drink) - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2014/06/visit-to-smartways-innohub.html