For over a decade, Etienne Paumier has been working in the challenging and high-pace Hong Kong market managing on-premises, corporate and private clients sales. Graduated from HEC Paris Business School, he brought to the industry his attention to detail and process-driven approach to deliver to his clients quality products with the highest sense of service and work ethic. As Head of Wholesale & Corporate Sales for Watson’s Wine, one of the country’s leading distributors, he planned and implemented the company’s business and team development to gain recognition as one of the market’s leaders.

Born in a wine making family in the Loire Valley, he used to taste from the vats with his grandfather as a boy and following his studies, Etienne’s passion for wine grew working for a family estate in Burgundy. Manual work in the vineyard as well as sales development for the estate hooked him for good and changed his perspective on wine forever: one tastes wine differently after pruning the vines in a snowy winter morning! After moving to Hong Kong, he discovered the appetite for wine culture, tasting and history in the Far East and dedicate his life to share his passion with the booming Chinese wine market.

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Leading a team introducing over 200 wineries from all over the world to on-premises clients as well as private connoisseurs, he extended his knowledge beyond the borders of Europe to discover the great wines of Australasia or the Americas, on and off the beaten track. Holder of a WSET Diploma and expert fine wine authenticator member of Winefraud, he has an extensive knowledge of wine history, culture and production. Judging wines in international competitions such as the International Wine Challenge, his tasting skills won him the Vinexpo Blind Tasting Challenge in 2018.