Wine press: Looks like Decanter magazine to launch in China, seeking editors

If I had a kuai for every time I heard that Decanter magazine planned to launch in China, I could buy a pretty nice bottle glass of wine. (OK, it hasn’t happened that many times.)

I’ve emailed Decanter HQ in London and talked to people in the wine industry in China many times about the magazine since 2007 when it sounded like it really would launch ahead of the Beijing Olympics. In May of that year, Decanter even quoted its publishing director Sarah Kemp saying, “‘We are very excited about the imminent launch of Decanter into mainland China'”, and added that, “Decanter is already published in Hong Kong and Taiwan but will be launched in mainland in a new, simple text version, later this year” (see story).

Since then, the word has always been “soon”. Now a couple of sources here say the magazine really really will launch a version with simplified characters in continental China in the next three or four months. And supporting evidence came today from Tom O’Malley, known for his restaurant views and food writing for The Beijinger, who forwarded me an email re Decanter seeking editors. Here’s an excerpt:

Editor-in-Chief – Based in Shanghai/Beijing

Experience— 7 to 15 years of prior magazine experience

Skills and Personality Traits

Renowned wine specialist writer with an extensive network in the wine business; Excellent managerial and leadership skills; very strong simplified Chinese writing, editing, and communication skills, good organization, editorial insight and vision, good command of Chinese, and ideally English. French or another European language is a plus (French, Spanish, Italian)

The email also covers openings for an editor.

I’ll try to get some more info on this story. If Decanter really is ready to go, I’m guessing there is going to be some strong interest in those positions…

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