Seed of an idea opens the Golden Gate (hktdc.com)


	Golden Gate Wine founders Toby and Eileen Marion with daughter Louisa at Cline Winery, Sonoma Valley, California

Toby Marion's introduction to the wine business began in the early 1970s, when he was a Peace Corps volunteer in need of a hobby. After a 30-year corporate career, the former New Yorker realised his passion to form Golden Gate Wine, importing fine US wine for distribution to high-end customers in Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and Macau.

"In the early 1970s, with a Bachelor's and Master's (degree) in Chemical Engineering, I was working for Union Carbide in the US. It was during the Vietnam War, and I didn't get drafted, so I decided to join the Peace Corps instead. It seemed like a good job, so I took it. I had wanderlust, and couldn't imagine myself working for a chemical company for the next 40 years.

I spent the next three years in Afghanistan, instructing high school science teachers and teaching chemical engineering to university students. Getting liquor wasn't easy, and they had wonderful grapes there. We didn't have a lot of money, and also it was fun. My early production included three vintages of rather poor Chardonnay and a constant supply of homemade arak, made from fermented raisins and molasses.

At home in Hong Kong

After that, I took a job with Caltex Petroleum and they sent me all over the world for nearly 25 years. I met my wife, Eileen, in Bahrain and we married in 1977. We started collecting wine, but in a rather amateurish way and purely for our own enjoyment. I transferred from Australia to Hong Kong in 1996 and have stayed here ever since.

When I took early retirement in 1999, I set up Hong Kong's first supply chain and logistics consulting company with an English partner company. It was successful: we did some interesting projects and I grew the firm from one to 14 staff, but it's a difficult business to be in.

Our daughter spent the summer of 2002 working for Veuve Clicquot in France, and we went to visit her, exploring the underground caves of Champagne and visiting numerous wineries. An idea began to form.

With the help of an Australian wine businessman who shared information with me, I studied the market for a year and identified a niche for American wine. I set up Golden Gate Wine in 2004, hiring Simon Tam as my consultant, and structured the company to focus on wine from California, Oregon and Washington State.

Getting things done

When I was in the corporate sector, I loved the way things get connected in Hong Kong. There are so many regional headquarters in the city that it is literally a nexus of international business. As an entrepreneur, I experienced even more of Hong Kong's advantages. The things one hears about the ease of setting up and running a business are all true – and I'm also very positive about the people, who are hard working, professional and loyal. Hong Kong is a good place to work, and it is a place where jobs get done.

Golden Gate Wine employs six full-time staff in Hong Kong and one in Guangzhou. We deal with 70 brands covering 350 wines, importing to Hong Kong and re-exporting to Shanghai and Macau. Our customers include all the big hotel groups, including InterContinental, Mandarin Oriental, Marriott, Shangri-La, Peninsula and the Marco Polo group. The recent abolition of the wine tax makes this business even more exciting.

Home of fine US wine

But it's only the beginning. Our grand plan is to be the "home of fine American wine," and I know that, in Hong Kong, we can do it. Here, once you're established as an honest, sincere business with good products, success will surely follow."