Bernice Liu
Actress, Winemaker and Social media influencer
Bernice Liu is no stranger to Hongkongers. A famous TV actress, model and presenter, spanning an illustrious entertainment career of 20 years, Liu’s tendrils of influence now reaches far beyond the screen to the world of wine.
Her early wine-soaked trips to Napa Valley and France’s famous wine region Bordeaux inspired her to create her own wine brand – Bellavizio, meaning “beautiful mistake” in Italian in 2008. First launched with just a Napa Chardonnay and a Merlot, the brand has since grown to include Bordeaux wines and bagged a few international accolades including Decanter World Wine Awards and the Grand Harvest Awards.
Liu herself has also evolved from a wine noive to become a serious winemaker, a certified sommelier and is currently pursuing wine studies with WSET’s diploma courses. Her winemaking chops were also nodded in 2019 when she was chosen as one of the top 10 best women winemakers in Japan’s Sakura Japan Women’s Wine Award.
Aside from her own brand, she also launched an online wine shopping platform called Wine Maven for Hong Kong’s vast wine lovers. Her reach in wine is also broadened with her enviable social media clout. The actress-turned-winemaker has over 125,000 followers on Instagram and 81,000 on Facebook.
She was inducted to Commanderie du Bontemps, Commanderie de Champagne, Knights of Alba society of Italy, and most recently Commanderie de Bordeaux.
Liu is also noted for philanthropist work. She was recognized for positively promoting internationalism through her charity work between Canada, China, and France, receiving the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal of Honour in 2013. The same year, a single bottle of her wine was auctioned off for RMB 250,000 (US$39,600), and all proceeds were donated to the BOSS Charity Event, helping children with disabilities and in need of aid.
The following year, another bottle of her Bellavizio smashed the previous record for RMB 300,000 (US$47,500).
I must commend Debra for setting up WineSpit which helped educate the wine industry in Hong Kong, she gives back to the Industry selflessly time and time again.