BNP pitches wines to rich Asians

By Dominic Whiting

HONG KONG (Reuters) - French bank BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is pitching wines and easy country living to Asia's wealthy.

The soft sell starts with a wine tasting and can be followed by a visit to a French wine-making chateau, where guests can be "knighted" as wine tasters, before a tour of vineyards for sale. It's BNP's fast-growing private banking arm's way to try to persuade the region's wealthy to buy French wines, vineyards and chateaux -- and manage their money as well.

Bank executives hope that by appealing to rich Asians who are discovering a taste for wine, they can grab a bigger share of the wealth management business in a region that is minting millionaires at a faster pace than North America and Europe.

Eric Aubin, deputy chief executive of BNP Paribas Private Bank in Hong Kong, said the French vineyard market was "a bit shaky", but falling land prices meant it was a good time for Asians to buy.

French people are drinking less wine than they used to, and competition is stiffening from "new world" wines from Australia, the Americas and South Africa.

"This can be a good opportunity," Aubin said, adding that he had already taken a group of 12 Asians on a wine tour to France.

"People can buy vineyards in the old world and add value, by using their marketing networks and distribution in Asia."

A typical 17-hectare vineyard producing 80,000 bottles of traditional Bordeaux a year is going for around 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million) at the moment, while a 30-hectare property near Bergerac, producing 250,000 bottles, can fetch up to 5 million euros.  Continued...