▻ Don St Pierre of ASC Fine Wines

Great Wine Lives

25 Aug

Written By Sarah Kemp

Sarah Kemp in conversation with Don St Pierre of ASC Fine Wines

Episode Summary:-

It’s hard to talk about the rise of wine consumption in China without talking about the pioneering role of ASC Fine Wines, the company founded in 1996 by Don St Pierre Snr with his son, Don Jnr. In this episode of “Great Wine Lives,” Sarah Kemp talks to Don Jnr about how they opened up the market in mainland China and helped create a vibrant wine culture, turning a nation of drinkers of distilled-grain Baijiu to educated consumers of wine.

Don Jnr was born in Windsor, Canada, and his early ambitions were to be a professional baseball player, or later a professional golfer. His father was in the automobile industry and travelled widely; posted by American Motors to Jakarta when Don Jnr was 12, which was when Don Jnr’s fascination with Asia began. His father was an early business pioneer, and a move to Beijing brought about the first foreign direct investment in China, when he became president of Beijing Jeep.

Don Jnr elaborates on his very close relationship with his father: In 1996, they decided they wanted to start a business together. Most people were seeing China as a low-cost manufacturing base, but they saw an opportunity to import and sell goods in China. They looked at various industries, including baby care, but his father’s relationship with wine producers finally inclined them to look at the wine industry. Timing was good, as the Chinese government were keen to reduce higher-alcohol Baijiu consumption, and the World Trade Organisation reduced import tariffs. In the mid-90s there were only two wine shops in Shanghai, and wine was mostly sold in Western hotels.

“There was no masterplan,” Don laughs, as he explains how they set about creating awareness through education, tastings and dinners, and producer visits. “It was trench warfare, account by account, teaching our clients to open bottles, never alone understanding labels or producers’ names.” Their first agencies were Bollinger, Beringer, and Petaluma, followed shortly afterwards by Col D’Orcia. The Bollinger connection was because Pierre de Montgolfier of the Bollinger family ran the Peugeot operation in Guangzhou, whilst Col D’Orcia was a through an advisor to Fiat automobiles. Jean-Claude Boisset was also an early sign-up “Our pitch was, we were in China and most producers were represented through companies in Hong Kong,” he notes.

Don discusses the people who helped in the early days, but concludes, “I think the main help we got from people were the great team of professionals that we assembled which were mostly local Chinese who had no experience in wine.”

Two years after he and his father launched ASC Fine Wines, Swarovski invested in the company, and this allowed the company to survive and thrive. It was perfect timing, as “Wine was becoming more and more seen as a great tool in building relationships, and showing your sophistication and your success.”

The company was growing at a phenomenal rate, and in 2008 two monumental events occurred – Robert Parker visited China, presiding over several dinners for ASC Fine Wine clients, including on the Great Wall of China, and Don Jnr got thrown into jail.

The Chinese authorities raided the ASC offices (along with other companies), accusing the company of underreporting the value of imports. Don talks about the 29 days he spent in a small cell with five other prisoners, where the guard dog had better food than they did. He is philosophical about the episode. “It turned out to be a great learning platform for the changes we needed to make at ASC,” he says wryly. And his overall takeaway from the experience? “The main thing was, our government relationships weren’t good enough!”.

““Wine was becoming more and more seen as a great tool in building relationships, and showing your sophistication and your success.””

— Don St Pierre

In 2011, ASC Wines won the agency for DBR Lafite Rothschild, a major acquisition, which not only increased their revenue, but also helped reassure Suntory, who had bought 80% of the business the year before. In 2014 Don Jnr sold out the rest of his shares to Suntory and, with his wife Monica and his three daughters, departed for a new life in California. After 16 years in China, he was keen to start afresh and learn about the US market. He also admits to being burnt out.

Never one to retire to the golf course, Don Jnr bought a majority share in Vinfolio, a fine-wine marketplace and storage platform, where he set about using technology to disrupt the fine-wine space. In 2022, he merged Vinfolio with Fine & Rare, offering a single platform for UK, US, and Asia, “a fantastic tool to grow fine-wine sales” he explains. In 2023, he founded AdaptEdge, giving advice and counsel to people in the wine industry, but the big news came this year, when he announced that he and his wife had bought back ASC Fine Wines from Suntory and were returning to China.

“It’s pretty much full circle,” he says, admitting he missed China, and that he sees huge opportunities there. “I’m a big, big believer in the idea in being greedy when people are fearful, and fearful when people are greedy.” Most foreign businesses are fearful of doing business in China these days, but he has a great belief in the Chinese people, and believes consumer confidence is returning.

Who has influenced him most? Apart from his father, it has to be his wife Monica, and his three daughters, who he says teach him stuff every day. His biggest achievement? “Being a good husband and father.”

Running Order:-

0.00 – 19.40

“I think the main help we got from people were the great team of professional we assembled, which were mostly local Chinese, who had no experience in wine.”

– Growing up in Canada and US and relationship with his father.
– Moving to Asia and early fascination with Asia.
– Launching ASC Fine Wines with his father in 1996.
– The Chinese market in the 1990s.
– Early days of ASC Fine Wines.
19.41 – 33.27

“It was really the local Chinese that started to fuel demand, and at its core, wine was seen as an alternative to Baijiu, as a tool to be used to build relationships.”

– Swarovksi invest in ASC Fine Wines, allowing them to survive and expand.
– How the Chinese wine market grew.
– Robert Parker visits China and holds ASC events.
– Don Jnr put in jail for 29 days amid claims of underreporting wine values.
– ASC Fine Wines take on agency of DBR Lafite Rothchild.
– Suntory take 80% stake in ASC Fine Wines.
33.28 – 44.41

“I’m a big believer in the idea in being greedy when people are fearful and fearful when people are greedy.”

– Don Jnr sells his shares in ASC, heads to California with his family.
– He takes a majority share in Vinfolio, a fine-wine marketplace and storage platform.
– Merges Vinfolio with Fine & Rare in London, launches AdaptEdge.
– Returns to China and buys ASC Fine Wines back from Suntory.
– Why Don Jnr believes in the future of fine wine in China.
– The people who influenced him most and his biggest achievement.