There’s a lot to like about Taiwan, a tiny island country. Taiwan, which is situated 180 kilometers east of China and has a population of approximately 23 million people, is an important and growing market for wine.
Taiwan is one of Asia’s top five wine markets, with Euromonitor predicting that demand will rise rapidly in the coming years, surpassing 25 million litres by 2021.
Since the 1990s, when drinking wine was a status symbol for rich businessmen, Taiwan’s wine industry has expanded dramatically. Modern wine connoisseurs are increasingly looking for varieties that offer more than just old-world prestige and a steep price tag.
Wine drinking in Taiwan
The new wine demand in Taiwan is being pushed ahead by sharp young female buyers, and wine intake in Taiwan has increased by 8.5 percent in the last seven years.
Taiwanese wine drinkers are used to consuming wine with their meals. In Taiwan, drinking wine in restaurants is common and widely embraced. Taiwanese people prefer a night out at a restaurant to a night out at a western club. Food and wine go hand in hand in Taiwanese culture, and wine is becoming more popular in this sense.
The wine industry benefited from the growing interest in and success of local wine events like the Wine & Gourmet Taipei Festival, the Taipei Wine & Spirits Festival, and the Taichung International Wine Exhibition. These events encourage wine enthusiasts to learn about various types of wine, as well as specific grape varieties and growing regions from around the world.
According to a recent Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) survey, 54 percent of Taiwanese adults drink at least regularly, and among these drinkers, 30.8 percent favoured wine, while beer consumption remained strong (30.6 percent) and liquor trailed far behind (29.4 percent ). 45.8 percent of Taiwanese do not drink at all, and 0.2 percent of those polled did not respond.
According to Statista statistics, Taiwan is still one of the world’s least wine-consuming countries (when opposed to spirits and beer).