The HKUST Alumni Wine Association (HKUSTAWA) and the MBA Alumni Association (MBAAA) will co-organize a Wine Workshop with a special focus on the up-and-coming wine region – Ningxia (寧夏) in China. The event speakers, Ms Emma Gao, Head Winemaker at Silver Heights Vineyard and Mr Houghton Lee, HKUSTAWA’s Honorary Advisor and Past Chairman of the Society of Wine Educators Hong Kong Chapter (SWEHK) will guide the attendees through the tasting journey to Ningxia!
Six different wines (5 from Ningxia and 1 'joker') are available for tasting at the workshop. Through sharing and guided tasting, attendees can understand why this region has attracted foreign investment, regional characteristics and winemaking of Ningxia as well as to truly feel the potential of Asian terroir.

Speakers’ Bio:
- Ms Emma Gao (Head Winemaker at Silver Heights Vineyard, Ningxia)
Emma was first encouraged to study winemaking by her father, Lin.  He had a premonition that their hometown of Yinchuan, with a climate and soil perfect for grape cultivation, could soon become an exciting new wine region.  Emma accepted the challenge and moved to Bordeaux to studyoenology at the University of Bordeaux.  During an internship at Chateau Calon-Ségur, she fell in love with one of their winemakers, Thierry Courtade.  Thankfully Thierry also has a taste for adventure, as they soon moved back to Yinchuan to begin producing the first vintage for Silver Heights, using the vines that Lin had planted years before. 

- Mr Houghton Lee, HKUSTAWA Honorary Advisor and Past Chairman of the Society of Wine Educators Hong Kong Chapter
Houghton (CWE, CSW, CSS) was among the first four Hongkongers qualified by SWE for CSW in 2009.  In 2010, he wrote a Chinese-language book " The Vineyards of Greater China " – covering 14 wineries in Eastern China,Taiwan and Hong Kong.  In 2016, he became the first speaker on Ningxia region at a major USA wine conference (SWE's 40th anniversary conference at Washington DC).  Houghton was among the first group of part-time MBA graduates of HKUST!
(Click HERE for full version of bio)