Ep. 2324 Stevie Kim interviews Roza Zharmukhambetova | Asia Wine Market: Almaty Special Edition

Few days after Vinichally so everyone is tired. Everyone just wants to sleep and guess what we're going to do. We are going to be launching a new super exciting series. It's called Asia wine market series. It's a special, not just including, let's say, right now, the first one we're going to dedicate is, of course, Kazakhstan, the ALmaty series because last year, we went to ALmaty. We did a Vinital International Academy in Almaty, as well as a Almaty walk around tasting, but we will also focus on more mature markets such as Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and growing in, let's say, promising markets like South Korea, maybe Vietnam, India, and emerging markets like central Asia. Okay. So let's dive into this. Welcome to Asia wine market Almaty special edition with me, your host Rosa. In this special series, we're exploring the growing wine culture of Kazakhstan, with Almaty at the heart of it all. Each episode will meet with Italian wine professionals, importers, psalms, and producers who are shaping the future of wine in central Asia. Whether you are a winery looking to expand into new markets or a local expert curious about the market dynamics, you are in the right place. Hello, everybody. My name is Stevie Kim, and welcome to the Italian wine podcast. It's a few days after Vinichley, so everyone is tired. Everyone just wants to sleep and guess what we're going to do. We are going to be launching a new super exciting series. It's called Asia wine market series, and it is a special omeleti edition. Now, The Asia wine market could be a, they would say, strategic move to reflect and lead the growing interest and engagement with emerging markets across Asia. So we would like to think about why we're doing this, but before we do that and bring on the learning objectives, she will be the new host, Rosa, and don't ask me how to pronounce her name. I will try Okay. Chow to everyone, and I'm very very excited to be here and to launch our new series. Okay. So let's talk a little bit about Rosa here. First of all, tell us your last name. How do you pronounce it? Okay. Okay. Almost. Yeah. So actually the k is silent. If I show you how you spell this, you will all be flabbergasted. Actually, anyone who can pronounce it and send me a, voice recording actually an Italian wine podcast will get the first prize of a new book by Atilio Shenza, the Art of wine storytelling. Okay. We also call her Rose She is our Italian Line Podcast producer here, Rose Rosa. Would you tell us a little bit about yourself who are less familiar? So I am from Kazakhstan. First of all, Kazakhstan is my home country? Why are you laughing? No. No. Yes. You are from Kazakhstan. We it's Kazakhstan. We say Kazakhstan. There's a vol, one more all, but in English, it's actually Kazakhstan. Right? Yeah. And people who come from Kazakhstan, what are they called? Kazakh. A Kazakh. Or Kazakh. And are is there a different language from Russia? It is a different language because it belongs to the Turkish language. So and Russian that we also speak back home, it belongs to the Slavic language, the Slavic language. So do Kazakhs speak both Kazakh and also Russian? Yes, exactly. Okay. Okay. Getting back to you. Okay. Tell us a little bit about yourself. So I come from Kazakhstan, the Northern part of the country, but I spend some time of my life in Astana, the capital city, And then I moved to China to Beijing where I spent seven years of my life. Why did you go to China? I went there for love because back then, my ex husband, back then, he was my boyfriend He decided to go there. And then after some time, I decided to go after him. So, yes. So, you said, x, your mom got married to this man. The reason why you went to China? Yes. Exactly. Okay. But anyway, it was a good experience. Yes. Fast forward to us. Yes. So, yeah. And I've never been interested in wine when I was in Kazakhstan. Actually, the The first wine experience that I ever had happened to me in Beijing. The last two years that I spent there, I worked as a sales manager for the wine importing company in Beijing. And then when I moved back home, I decided to continue my education and wine and specifically focus on Italian wines. I was attending different tastings, tried to connect with people working in the wine industry in our country, but also trying to network with people from other different countries. And that is why I was traveling to Italy quite often during the last three years and getting some certifications and also traveling to wine regions and trying to explore these regions and get deeper knowledge on them. And that's why I applied to Via last year, and I know it became an Italian wine ambassador. And here you go. And now you're with us forever, basically. So for those of you who are interested in Rosa, a little bit more, there is actually a podcast, an entire podcast dedicated to Rosa, who interviewed you. It was Mckenna. Mckenna Cassidy. She's also one of our other podcast hosts for the next generation. Okay. So, Rosa, we've decided to do this Asia wine market series. It's a special, not just including, let's say, Right now, the first one we're going to dedicate is, of course, because Zach's done, the ALmaty series, because last year, we went to ALmaty. We did a Financial International Academy in ALmaty, as well as a ALmaty walk around tasting, but we will also focus on more mature markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and growing in, let's say, promising markets like South Korea, maybe Vietnam, India, and emerging markets like Central Asia. When we say Central Asia, what are we talking about? When we say Central Asia, we're talking about Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Pakistan, all of these countries. Lot of stands. Exactly. Exactly. Those are the countries we're looking at. Okay. So we are going to focus on Almaty, the series. How many episodes will there be? So this is episode zero. This is our pilot episode. And we will have ten episodes with the importers, with the distributors, with the samoyas. So you will get to know the wine scene in our country. A little bit more thanks to those people who actually work there. Okay. Excellent. So today, what are the learning objectives of our talk today? So first of all, The first thing that we need to know is the current wine scene in Kazakhstan. The second objective is to explore the opportunities for Italian wine producers. And the third one we are going to talk about the Italy Kazakhstan roadshow twenty twenty five that will happen on July seventh in Almaty, why it is important for both for Italian wine producers and also for the industry professionals from our country. Why this event is important? Okay. So let's dive into this. So the first question is, how would you describe the wine culture in Kazakhstan today, especially in ALmaty? I would say the, wine scene in our country is evolving, especially when we talk about some bigger cities like ALmaty, then the capital city, Astana, then Shamkhint. For example, that is another city. I'm not sure if you heard the name of the city before. Actually, I hadn't. I have to be honest. So this is another big city. That is also evolving both culturally and economically. People are getting more interested in wine, in culture, in fine dining, also traveling, That is why I think central Asian market in general, but also Kazakhstan, in particular, it can be a very interesting market. And long time ago, for example, for my parents or for generation of my parents, wine would be something considerate something as as a luxury product and also, like, going out to dine together with your family at a restaurant, having wine would be considered as a part of a luxury lifestyle, but now it's actually becoming a lifestyle that's younger generation choose. They go out pretty often and also a lot of women are getting interested in fine dining and also having wine at their table and sharing the bottle of wine with their friends. It's becoming normal. And also another important thing, I think, there is a rise of the middle class and also the upper middle class. They have disposable income to use to go out and explore wine, explore fine dining, and so on. What is the population of Kazakhstan? Twenty million. Twenty million. Twenty million. Yes. And if we're talking about, you know, of course, Almaty, Astana, Schimpkent, as you said Schimpkent. Okay. How concentrated are those cities? Well, they're over for example, ALmaty is around two million people living there, then Asana is a little bit less and Schimpkent is almost the same with Asana. They're growing. Those cities are growing and more people from other regions, they're going there, moving there. And the life is becoming a little bit buzzing There are lots of wine bars, lots of restaurants, new restaurants opening up, and also what I like, people working with wine in our country, they're young. When you went to ALmaty, you've seen it yourself They have this drive. They have this passion. They have this need to learn more to share what they learned with others. People working at wine bars, for example, or restaurants, They don't just sell wine, but they also organize some events for their consumers. For example, wine and art. They make something interesting to attract the the customers. And, also, every year, we have Kazakhstan based Samalia competition, organized by Kazakhstan Samalia Association, which does a great job. For educating the wine professionals in our country promoting them and also giving them opportunities. And they also work closely with International Samuel Association And whenever they have the boot camps, they try to send the Psalms from our country to other different countries for improving their skills, for example, or for learning something from people from other countries. And I think it's pretty cool because the market is dynamic because we are dynamic. We're young. We want to we want to learn more and we want to do more with wine. It's not just about getting paid for what we do, but we really believe in in what we do in this culture. So, you know, I have, an extra question for you, actually, about this, the young population of Kazakhstan. When I was in ALmaty last year, I interviewed the ambassador, Mark Garlty, and he had said that, more than fifty percent of the population were under twenty five. Is that is that correct? Does that sound familiar to you? I think he he should be right. I didn't check. But why? I should be honest. What is the reason behind that? Cause I never got a chance to follow-up on that thought that he had presented. Mean, if you look at all of the other countries in the rest of the world, it is an aging population. We have the other problems. It's completely the opposite, right, in terms of trends. Why in Kazakhstan? There is a growing significant, a very significant part of the population percentage under twenty five. How did that happen? I think it is because of the economic growth that we had For example, from two thousand till two thousand and eight, till the the world economic crisis, we had a boom, an economic boom, and many families, their economic situation it became better, and probably that is why they they decided to give birth to more kids. And in cosmic families, it's kinda normal to have three kids, sometimes four kids, For example, my parents, they had four kids. Two of my sisters, both of them, they had three kids each. So it's kinda normal to have a big family in our country. And young, more importantly, young. So there's a growing culture, wine appreciation driven by wine bars, Somalia School, social media influencers, etcetera, etcetera. Right? And actually, Artiam, one of our Italian wine ambassadors, he is a big player in ALmaty, in Kazakhstan, in general. He was the ex president of because that's some association, and they were our partners for Vititally International Academy as well as Vinitally last year. Okay. So moving on to next question. Have you noticed any growing interest in Italian wine specifically? And what styles would you say or regions are mostly appreciated? Okay. I think like any other country in the world for us also, Italy is one of the main destinations for travel, and we regard Italy as one of the main countries where we can eat delicious food, find some delicious, interesting recipes, We love Italy in general. We love it for the lifestyle. We have these beautiful pictures in our heads about Italy. Oh, yes. Exactly. Exactly. It can be true, it cannot be true, but we we have this kind of picture. Many people in our country have this picture about Italy. People are very passionate, emotional, and also the food is so delicious, and the wine is so good. So that is why Italy is quite popular. And I would say Italian wines, they are one of the favorite wines for people in our country. The main players in our market, they're France, Italy, Georgia, because we have historical bonds with that country. Mhmm. Spain, but still Italy has a special place in our hearts. And when I went out to some bars or restaurants, the styles that I saw mostly, I would say as everywhere else, people in our country like Praseco, it's kind of popular all over the world, then amarone, I would say, wine and amarone, quianti, and also among women among female drinkers, pinot grillo, plays a role to and I would say multiple channel. Also, I see I see this one quite often. Probably because it has soft tenants. It's a little bit more approachable rather than some of the other styles and whites. Yeah. So it's still a growing market. Right? I mean, let's be honest. It's quite small and quite a bit of a niche, but pretty interested in the Italian one. Regions. So when we talk about opportunities for Italian wineries, because this episode is dedicated to that, why do you think now is a good time for Italian wine producers to explore Kazakhstan market? I think, first of all, even though the market is very small, twenty million people living in this country, sometimes we see other city in cities, there are twenty million people in some cities like Beijing, for example. Where I lived. But at the same time, it's a very dynamic market. And as I said, it's a young market. And if you enter early, you take time. You will have time to build your brand and your brand is recognized in our market. You will have your future consumer base in Kazakhstan, pretty solid consumer base. And also another thing is Kazakhstan geopolitically, we are located like in in the heart of Eurasia. We are one of the central Asian countries, and we can serve as a hub as a gateway to other neighboring countries. Another thing I would say, we still at this phase, when most people in our country, most consumers, they didn't develop their palates yet. So that is why producers who are just coming to our market they have a very good opportunity to teach the consumer's in our country and to dictate or maybe dictate is a bad word, but to create trends, And to influence the consumer's choice and the consumer's palettes, if you work closely together with wine professionals from our country, you can actually develop some trends. So, and what type of Italian wines? Because we spoke about prosecco Marona Canti Pino Grijo, even Montepulciano, but what types of Italian wines are still underrepresented or missing an enormity? Or Kazakhstan in general. I would say that Italian indigenous grape varieties, they have a lot of opportunities in our country. For example, as I said, prosecco is very popular. At the same time, we can why not to try to sell more, Lambrusco. I think that Lambrusco can be a hit, a real hit in our country. People will People who drink Roseca, for example, they can also try Lamrosco, something new, something something interesting, something that they never tried before. Then also, I think that would make a big hit, certain styles of Verdicchio, if they are affordable price points, they can make a great substitute for, sovignon Blanc, for example, because, sovignon Blanc, this grape variety, like, especially the one, like, the fruity one. Savignan Blum from New Zealand. It's kinda popular, but we can find some substitute for that. And also some wines with more rounded softer tenants would also be popular, in my opinion, for example, Kananal, negramaro, some of the Rosato wines will be quite popular, I think, also Berceto Barbera. These varieties, I think, have a big opportunity to become popular in our country, in our market. So I would like to spend a little time, talking about Vineetli Almaty roadshow. Why do you think the Venetli Amatee Roachio can be important for the local wine industry. And what kind of impact can it have for importers, distributors, consumers, so at all levels of the wine industry trade in Kazakhstan. It's a very good opportunity for wine professionals and importing companies and distributors in our country because it brings the world of Italian wine or at least the part of this world to our doorstep. So as a company, you don't have to send anyone abroad to another wine fair. Wine producers, they come to your country If they come to your country, it means they are interested in developing this market in investing into this market because they made an effort to come to your doorstep. And I think importers and distributors, they also understand that. And it also gives some recognition to us as a market. It means that the producers recognize us as a part of global Wine World. Well, especially for Central Asia. Let me just give a little facts to our listeners about the first edition of the roadshow that was last fall in ALmaty. The first edition of the roadshow featured forty five exhibitors which included local importers and Italian wine producers both. And guests of the event had the opportunity to taste actually two hundred and sixty wines from twelve Italian regions still missing eight produced by seventy eight wineries. And we, of course, we had master classes led by in Russian led by Artium, our Italian wine ambassador, and we had more than hundreds of trade professionals. So I guess, you know, the important thing for our listener to understand is that Kazakhstan is not just Kazakhstan, not just ALmaty, but we had importers, distributors, restaurateurs, some psalms, and journalists, and delegates coming from all parts of central Asia. Namely, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and even Russia. We had a large delegates from Russia. So I think that's, something very important for, people to understand. And this is a great opportunity for exhibitors as well. I guess before we close, what message would you like to send to Italian wine producers listening to this episode? Why should they consider participating in Vinitially Omeleties show July, in this July, which is just around the corner literally? Okay. What I like to tell to to both, actually, to Italian wine producers and wine professionals in our country? First of all, to wine professionals in our country. Again, as I said, the wine producers they're ready to come to you to see you at your doorstep. This means that the producer is ready to help you develop the market, invest in your partnership. That is why wine professionals in our country have to consider visiting the fair and be very active there. And second, to the producers, yes, Kazakhstan is a small market, but as I said, it can be a hub, a gateway to other central Asian countries. And also the time is right. The time is correct. We are at an early stage of developing our wine scene, and you have a chance to be the first one to enter the market. Which will always give you some power in this market later. Okay. So just to some some of why Kazakhstan, right? There is the first mover advantage. It is off the radar for many producers, but The successful launch of Vineet International Academy last year as the Vinetally road show anomaly proves that there's curiosity and absolute momentum. And capitalizing on this early success reinforces a commitment and positions Vinichley, as a pioneer. Any Italian wine podcast was proudly a partner, media partner, and also for this year. The other thing is there is a growing wine culture, because Exxon is developing a more affluent, middle class interested in lifestyle products, including wine. There's also a strong exped and business community and local interest in European wines is rising and of course Italian wine, especially are leveraging the younger consumers. It is strategic also in terms of location and influence as part of central Asia. Kazakhstan is geopolitically positioned between Europe Russia and China, let's not forget, and crosswalks for distribution, logistics, and influence. So it may serve as a hub for Italian wine, not just locally, but for neighboring markets like we've said this, used Pakistan, Kurds, Guistan and even Western China because it is quite close. It's the it's a very northern part of central Asia. The undeserved narrative. Let's talk about this. While China, Japan, and Korea are often covered, because Xaccent is still relatively unexplored in wine media. So you can have the first mover advantage by going there now, and we are trying to provide an exclusive look into the developing market. So I believe that Rosa will be with us with the next episodes and trying to give you some insights into Kazakhstan, and then we'll be going on to other markets as well, like Japan, like Korea, etcetera, etcetera. So that's it. Signing off for Italian wine podcast. I'm Stevie Kim here with Rosa. Thank you everyone for listening and see you next week with a new episode. I was expecting you to say your last name Rosa. Oh. Okay. That is it. It's a wrap. Thanks for listening to Asia wine market, Almati special edition. Don't forget to subscribe and follow the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your parts. And if you are curious to discover more about the central Asian wine scene, join us at the Vineet Lee Calakstan roadshow on July seventh. See you in the next episode. And until then, cheers from Almaty.