Shanghai-based fine wine trader WINEXSH has applied for bankruptcy liquidation, with a supplier reporting an unpaid order and Chinese wine media citing complaints from customers unable to collect wines or secure refunds.
The filing comes as falling fine wine prices put pressure on businesses holding large inventories. One former supplier told Vino Joy News that WINEXSH had accumulated substantial stocks, leaving it exposed as prices declined.
A notice published October 17 on China’s National Enterprise Bankruptcy Information Disclosure Platform identifies Shanghai Free Trade Zone Wine Exchange Co., Ltd., known as WINEXSH, as the applicant. The application is being reviewed by the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court.
According to news platform Sina Finance, the court held a hearing on the application on October 29. The records cited establish that the company has applied for liquidation; they do not indicate whether the court has accepted the application.
Vino Joy News found that the company’s website was inaccessible, although its wine sales mini program on WeChat remained available. The latest article on its official WeChat account was dated Aug. 15. Corporate information platform Qichacha continued to list the company’s registration status as active.
From Wine Futures to Bonded Storage
Founded in 2012, WINEXSH described itself in public materials as a wine trading center established with joint approval from authorities overseeing Shanghai’s free trade zone, commerce, financial services and business registration. Its stated activities spanned international trade, warehousing, logistics and wine education.
A former employee told Vino Joy News that fine wine sales were its core business. Customers placed orders through the company’s website and trading system, and WINEXSH purchased wines to fulfill them.
Once delivered, the wines could be stored in the bonded zone at Yangshan Port, with customers paying storage fees until they arranged collection. The former employee said the business primarily served individual consumers rather than wine distributors.
A merchant who previously supplied WINEXSH said the company had close ties to the Waigaoqiao bonded zone in its early years and used banking relationships to obtain financing, helping it expand rapidly.
“In the early years, the company did a lot of business in both wine futures and physical stock. It later moved into cross-border e-commerce and also traded fine wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. A few years ago, it accumulated substantial inventories,” said the merchant, who requested anonymity.
Unpaid Orders and Customer Complaints
The merchant said WINEXSH had purchased en primeur from his Bordeaux trading company for several consecutive years. Its latest order, however, remained unpaid, and the company had not collected the wines it had ordered.
Separately, Chinese wine media have reported complaints from consumers who bought wine futures through the platform but faced lengthy delays in collecting some purchases. Some also reported delays in receiving refunds.
The supplier expressed regret over the company’s difficulties, describing the people he had dealt with as “very good people.”
“I have a great deal of respect for the management team,” he said.
He attributed its troubles in part to the broader wine market downturn.
Falling Prices Expose Inventory Risks
The merchant said fine wine prices in China had declined steadily in recent years. Wines bought as futures at inflated prices in 2021 and 2022 were, in many cases, now available for less on the Chinese physical market.
That creates a difficult choice for businesses holding expensive stock: maintain prices and risk leaving wines unsold, or discount them and absorb losses.
In the supplier’s view, WINEXSH’s difficulties illustrate the vulnerability of a business model built on financing and large inventories. As prices fall, the stock underpinning that expansion loses value, making it harder to recover the money committed to earlier purchases.
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