looking back, dominic rivard has to admit that starting
a business in Thailand within weeks of a military coup might not
Tasting Success
A cosmopolitan vintner
gambles that Thai fruit wine
will please U.S. palates.
By Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Photography by Christopher Wise
76  FSB  december 2008/january 2009
have been the best idea. It took more than six months to find an
investor willing to take a risk on his proposal to build an exotic
fruit winery in Southeast Asia. And then, with the government’s
ministries in some confusion, it took twice as long as expected to
register the company.
“Maybe it was stupid,” says Rivard,
but Thailand, with its abundant fruit
harvests to supply the winery and its
millions of tourists to buy the wines,
seemed an ideal location. Two years
later, Apsara Valley Wines, located 30 miles north of Bangkok, is
distributing its first batch of pineapple, passion-fruit, mangosteen
and lychee wines to high-end restaurants and resorts in the area.
Rivard’s next goal: to bring these libations to the U.S. market.
A 36-year-old Canadian who has served as head winemaker for
more than 10 producers in Canada and China, Rivard has spent
most of his life in the business. At age 17 he made his first batch of
wine from dandelions and concord grapes in his backyard. Later he
took sommelier classes. After a brief stint working in a wine labo-
ratory, he launched his own business as an enological consultant,
advising companies on both sides of the Pacific.
In 2002 Rivard was offered a joint venture with a provincial
agriculture ministry in China, which gave him a minority stake in
the firm and second billing in the company, Tianjin Kernel Rivard
Wines. Two years later the business was struggling. Investment
in equipment had been heavy, but Rivard believed that essential

marketing efforts had been underfinanced. “We had a very good
product,” says Arvin Tian, Rivard’s business partner at the time,
“but the company wasn’t managed well.” Rivard concurs. “By the
end I felt like a puppet,” he recalls. “I was nothing more than the
white figurehead.”
But Rivard had a family to support. So when the business
failed, he signed on as head winemaker at one of China’s largest
wineries, Tonghua Grape Wine. After a couple of years he felt
restless again. A friend introduced him to Germain Bergeron, a
fellow Canadian and serial entrepreneur who was based in Thai-
land. Bergeron, 40, needed a new venture, and Rivard wanted an
ambitious partner. In 2006 Rivard moved to Bangkok to work
with Bergeron, founding Hong Kong–based Oeno Wines, an
importer and the parent of Apsara Valley.
Rivard says he’s learned from his mistakes. This time, he and
Bergeron own a controlling interest in the company. They’ve in-
vested less in production equipment and more in
product packaging, a key component in Asia,
l
Cultur aes? where wine is often bought as a gift. Rivard
c
Differen has also grown used to the cultural nuances
ow n
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cent deal. A large South Korean importer
@timeinc.co hired Rivard and Bergeron to make a Mal-
vasia grape wine in Italy. After they spent tens
of thousands of dollars on production and packag-
ing, and with a container loaded and ready to ship, the importer
decided to cancel the order. The reason: a vague complaint about
This spread, from left:
packaging that had been approved months ear- Dominic Rivard 
(wearing glasses) and
lier. “It was very frustrating,” says Rivard. “A Germain Bergeron 
North American mind-set would have gotten sample their Mythical
Garden wine, which
mad and called in the lawyers, because there they make from 
were contracts involved.” exotic fruits such as 
Instead, he f lew to the importer’s head- mangosteen and 
passion fruit. Rivard
quarters to renegotiate. It took nearly three bottles the wine 
months of visits and dinners to get the deal in Thailand’s Pathum
Thani province.
back on track, but Rivard felt it was worth it:
“We built stronger relationships with the buyer and solidified
future deals.”
In its first four months of sales, Apsara Valley has generated
more than $90,000 from its dry and dessert fruit wines. By next
year, Rivard and Bergeron hope to top $500,000. That will partly
depend on their ability to tackle the U.S. market. They plan to
partner with Makiko Yamashita, a Sacramento entrepreneur who
will sell the fruit wine under her own brand, Radee. But marketing
a largely unknown beverage—and one that sounds unsophisticated
to boot—at a premium price may not be easy. Sales of fruit wine
in the U.S. grew by less than 8% from 2002 to 2007, according to
the research firm Euromonitor International.
“The market is tiny, and it’s hard to get money commen-
surate with the work you put in,” says Bill Nelson, president
of WineAmerica, a trade group whose members include fruit
wineries. “Most companies aren’t able to sell fruit wine for more
than $10 a bottle.” Nonetheless, Apsara Valley’s owners continue
to feel bullish about the U.S. market. Says Rivard: “We just need
the wine-drinking world to open up.” *
december 2008/january 2009  FSB  77