Hong Kong wine festival spreads to Tamar Park with 340 booths
The Wine & Dine Festival runs from 29 October to 1 November with Lafite 2016 in the glass and a ten-hand dinner, then hands over to a month of citywide dining offers.
The Hong Kong wine festival run by the Hong Kong Tourism Board returns from 29 October to 1 November with more than 340 booths, over 10% more than last year, and for the first time spills beyond Central Harbourfront into neighbouring Tamar Park.
The Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, co-organised with the Bordeaux wine council CIVB under the slogan “Taste the World’s Best”, gathers wines and food from around 31 countries and regions. Australia, Canada and South Korea bring their own pavilions for the first time. Visitors who want the city’s food beyond the harbourfront stalls can start with our guide to what to eat in Hong Kong and our ranking of the best restaurants in Hong Kong.
Tickets, tokens and opening hours
The festival is the bait; November’s Gourmet Month is where Hong Kong expects visitors to spend.
Admission costs HK$40 for anyone aged 12 or over and HK$20 for children aged 3 to 11, seniors, full-time students and people with disabilities. Drinking is paid separately: tasting tokens cost HK$25 each, a Tasting Pass at HK$258 bundles eight tokens with a glass, and the Grand Wine Pass at HK$558 adds up to 16 tokens and entry to the Grand Wine Pavilion.
Gates open at 7.30pm on Thursday 29 October. Friday is the long night, from 1pm to 1am; Saturday and Sunday run from 1pm to midnight.
The Grand Wine Pavilion is where the serious bottles sit: Château Lafite Rothschild 2016, Mouton Rothschild 1982, Clos de Bèze from Domaine Armand Rousseau, Vega Sicilia Único 2015 and Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2013. More than 20 masterclasses are scheduled and a new Wine Walk adds three guided routes.
Chefs and hotels at the Hong Kong wine festival
The Tasting Room hosts a ten-hand dinner on 30 October at HK$2,380 a head, cooked by Edward Lee, runner-up on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars, Shanghai chef Chen Zhiping, Lau Yiu-fai of the two-star Lai Ching Heen, French chef Thierry Marx and Justin Yang. The AMEX Gourmet Club zone gathers restaurants with a combined 15 Michelin stars and 26 hotels line the Hotel Boulevard.
A new “Only in Hong Kong” strand serves local twists such as a black sesame soy milk pudding tart and a spritz topped with salted fish foam. Used cooking oil will be collected on site by EcoCeres and turned into sustainable aviation fuel, a first for the event.
HKTB chairman Peter Lam said the aim is to get visitors to “stay longer and spend more”. That is the job of Hong Kong Gourmet Month, which follows through November: restaurants and bars will run limited dishes and discounts, festival ticket stubs unlock offers at selected venues and the board will publish a late-night dining guide. How many restaurants take part has not yet been announced.
