CRI听力:Hong Kong Wine and Spirit Fair- Growing Thirst for Wines in Asia

It's bottoms up at Hong Kong's International Wine and Spirits Fair, the eighth edition of the event.

More than 360 million US dollars' worth of wine was exported by Hong Kong in the first eight months of 2015 - that's an 88.2 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

However, it's not just wines quenching visitors' thirsts. There's also an array of spirits, including Japanese whiskey.

Agent Baron Hui says Mars Whiskey's spirits feature a distinctly Japanese taste.

"Mars Whiskey offers a sweeter and softer taste. The texture is silkier. It also has a very strong floral scent as Japanese people enjoy a more delicate taste in whiskey. Its uniqueness sets it aside from its usual Scottish counterpart which has a smoky aroma."

Mars Whiskey is made by the Shinshu Mars Distillery, which has adopted certain technologies from famed Scottish whiskey production and incorporates that with Japanese techniques.

Opened on Thursday this week, the three-day fair featured over one thousand exhibitors from all over the world.

Santo Gomes, Managing Director of Sogrape Asia Pacific, says they're aiming to grasp the recent growth of China's wine market with both hands, particularly making sure they offer wines at affordable prices.

"With recent developments in the Chinese market, which is one of the largest markets in the region, we've been investing in recent years in developing brands that offer very good value for money and showing people that they don't need to spend a lot of money in order to get a good wine."

Despite China's recent economic slowdown, experts here are confident the wine market will continue to prosper in Asia.

Hong Kong-based Master of Wine, Debra Meiburg, says the wine market remained buoyant during the last financial crisis. And the large volume of exhibitors and visitors to the fair clearly show no sign of a declining industry.

"Interestingly, the world fell into global financial crisis just as Hong Kong's wine market took off and I think historically wine has never actually followed say, the stock market. Wine is an asset, but it has always forged its own path and performed financially independently of what's happening in the world. Except of course, you need a bit of money around to buy some of the top-level wines."

With 31 countries participating at the fair, it seems there's a strong intention from international winemakers to tap into China's blossoming wine market.