Jean-Baptiste and Virginie expand Wine Guild business with Mid-Levels move

The Wine Guild, one of Sai Kung’s more prominent French businesses, is expanding. Owner Jean-Baptiste Mage said a new shop will open in a new days at Mosque Street, just metres from the Mid-Levels escalator.
The first shop launched by The Wine Guild had the interesting slogan, “Get a true French root”. When it was pointed out to J-B, who is from Bordeaux, that this has a double-meaning in English, he thought about it and “I decided to keep it… to be a little bit subversive.”
The Wine Guild was set up on Po Tung Rd next to Iqbal’s Carpets by J-B and his wife of six years, Virginie. The couple live at Long Mei. Their second shop is being decorated by Sai Kung’s Apex Marine. J-B is keeping it local where he can: the shop will feature a teak wine-tasting table bought from Gordon the furniture man who has featured in BUZZ a couple of times. The new Wine Guild is on the site of a former grooming salon where dogs and their owners still hang around. J-B said it is a friendly locale.
Wine tasting will be held twice a month in the new shop as well as at Po Tung Road. J-B hosts these events with wine-makers and ambassadors. The Mosque St opening party will be on 21 and 22 October.
Looking the part in his black apron, the personable young Frenchman says he has a master’s degree in vine biology and quality management from the University of Bordeaux. “Everybody has a different taste in wine. Some palates haven spoiled by expensive Grand Crus and others by mass-produced wines with additives. It is easy to be confused in front of a wine rack. It is my duty to break the ice and inform people of the style of the wine, how it was made and what we can expect from it.”