{"id":83840,"date":"2025-07-22T12:56:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T04:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/?p=83840"},"modified":"2025-07-22T12:58:41","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T04:58:41","slug":"gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/","title":{"rendered":"Gregory DE \u2018 EB:\u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having just been crowned Green Personality of the Year at the Asia Green Awards, Crown Wine Cellars principal Gregory DE \u2018 EB reveals the secret to sustainable fine wine storage.<\/strong><\/h2>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>

Nestled within Shouson Hill is a slice of Hong Kong history. Constructed in the late 1930s by British Royal Engineers, the Central Ordnance Munitions Depot, aka Little Hong Kong, was the last bastion standing. It finally succumbed to Japanese occupation on 27 December 1941 after the city\u2019s formal surrender on Christmas day 48 hours earlier.<\/p>

The bravely fought battle was in Gregory\u00a0DE \u2018 EB\u2019s mind when he oversaw adaptive re-use of its underground bunkers into climate-controlled stores more than two decades ago. Its memory sustains him today in daily battles between improving business while reducing environmental impact.<\/p>

In May,\u00a0DE \u2018 EB was honoured by\u00a0the drinks business Asia<\/em>\u00a0with the title of\u00a0Green Personality of the Year<\/a>\u00a0at a ceremony hosted at ProWine Hong Kong.\u00a0Crown Wine Cellars<\/a>\u00a0was also announced as winner of the Renewable Energy Implementation Award.<\/p>

His work is far from over when it comes to sustainability.<\/p>

DE \u2018 EB\u2019s lifelong love of nature led to a sustainability playbook from day one. There was no precedent in Hong Kong for public private heritage restoration; Crown Wine Cellars was the first. Rather than chase ISO certifications for marketing endeavours, he worked with an attitude best described as minimum take from the planet to generate maximum give.<\/p>

\"\"
Crown Wine Cellars hosted this year\u2019s Asia Wine Masters judging session at its Shouson Hill site<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Though Crown Wine Cellars is a private club for Asia\u2019s top wine collectors and auction houses, the vast majority of income comes from state-of-the-art cellars where 99% of members store their treasures.<\/p>

DE \u2018 EB and Jim Thompson, chairman and founder of the Crown Worldwide Group, secured Shouson Hill from the Hong Kong government after 13 months of negotiations, and Tony Lo helped restore it to the initial tune of HK$20 million. Alongside one pair of bunkers, the clubhouse opened in 2004 nestled within dense sub-tropical forests. Immersed in its timelessness, members entertain guests knowing that their next bottle out of the bunker will be as good as the last.<\/p>

Sustainable cellar features include spaces insulated like refrigerators to trap conditioned air. Sodium-vapour lamps glow orange in keeping with the pre-war vibe of Shouson Hill, with 90% of originally installed bulbs still in use today. Air-locked tunnels with repurposed bunker doors reduce temperature fluctuations performing like those used in Canada, Sweden and other northern climates where temperatures may vary up to 50\u00b0C between interior and exterior. Spikes caused by an open door that is exposed to outside ambient temperatures are tempered by these intermediary air locks. Together, the features reduce reliance on Hong Kong\u2019s power grid while maintaining precious collections at optimal conditions 24\/7.<\/p>

\u201cThe single biggest expense for most commercial cellars is utilities,\u201d DE \u2018 EB said. \u201cI have been in other well-known facilities \u2014 I won\u2019t name names \u2014 where temperatures fluctuate by 7\u00b0C. In comparison, the temperature in our bunkers spikes by 0.2 to 0.5\u00b0C when someone enters or exit. Yes, we sacrifice storage space for air locked tunnels. But I believe that what I say is what I mean, and what I promise is what I deliver.\u201d<\/p>

\"\"
Crown Wine Cellars\u2019 site in Tuen Mun<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Today, with all serviceable bunkers in Shouson Hill converted into wine storage, demand dictated substantial additional storage space in a wholly-owned building in Tuen Mun. \u201cThe cost of Southern district land prohibited further expansion,\u201d noted DE \u2018 EB. \u201cAlthough Tuen Mun isn\u2019t as romantic, we have since expanded to over 100,000 sq feet, and because the Crown Worldwide Group owns the building, we can continue to expand and invest as required.\u201d<\/p>

He noted, laughing, that everyone at Crown Wine Cellars affectionately refers to Tuen Mun as Alcatraz: \u201cWe built it from scratch with excellent security and climate conditions. Nothing and nobody gets in or out without our clearance.\u201d<\/p>

Crown Wine Cellars\u2019 sustainability philosophy extends to details such as locally sourced biodegradable tissues and organic produce on menus. \u201cIf we use a biodegradable product, we have researched its company \u2014 we didn\u2019t just read its label,\u201d DE \u2018 EB said. \u201cWe even ensure the eggs we serve are from free-range chickens raised on organic feed. Our ideas trickle down to every staff member: they all love nature and take initiatives to source better, greener products.\u201d<\/p>

DE \u2018 EB admitted that some may consider his sustainability approach dogmatic \u2014 even didactic. \u201cWe evolve after learning what\u2019s right and what\u2019s wrong,\u201d he stated. \u201cEveryone needs the courage of their convictions to genuinely drive sustainability.\u201d<\/p>

Gregory DE \u2018 EB: ‘what I promise is what I deliver’<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having just been crowned Green Personality of the Year at the Asia Green Awards, Crown Wine Cellars principal Gregory DE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":83841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-coverage"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGregory DE \u2018 EB:\u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019 - Crown Wine Cellars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gregory DE \u2018 EB:\u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019 - Crown Wine Cellars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Having just been crowned Green Personality of the Year at the Asia Green Awards, Crown Wine Cellars principal Gregory DE […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crown Wine Cellars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-22T04:56:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-22T04:58:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2016\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel Ip\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel Ip\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/\",\"name\":\"Gregory DE \u2018 EB: \u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019 - Crown Wine Cellars\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-22T04:56:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-22T04:58:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d248be1d2be5776f302aa004b7743601\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3.jpg\",\"width\":2016,\"height\":1512},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gregory DE \u2018 EB:\u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/\",\"name\":\"Crown Wine Cellars\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d248be1d2be5776f302aa004b7743601\",\"name\":\"Rachel Ip\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3355890b6af60c5238c436401cbafa83?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3355890b6af60c5238c436401cbafa83?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rachel Ip\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gregory DE \u2018 EB:\u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019 - Crown Wine Cellars","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gregory DE \u2018 EB:\u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019 - Crown Wine Cellars","og_description":"Having just been crowned Green Personality of the Year at the Asia Green Awards, Crown Wine Cellars principal Gregory DE […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/","og_site_name":"Crown Wine Cellars","article_published_time":"2025-07-22T04:56:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-22T04:58:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2016,"height":1512,"url":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rachel Ip","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rachel Ip","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/","url":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/","name":"Gregory DE \u2018 EB: \u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019 - Crown Wine Cellars","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-22T04:56:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-22T04:58:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d248be1d2be5776f302aa004b7743601"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3.jpg","width":2016,"height":1512},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/news-events\/media-coverage\/gregory-de-eb-what-i-promise-is-what-i-deliver\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gregory DE \u2018 EB:\u2018what I promise is what I deliver\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/","name":"Crown Wine Cellars","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d248be1d2be5776f302aa004b7743601","name":"Rachel Ip","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3355890b6af60c5238c436401cbafa83?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3355890b6af60c5238c436401cbafa83?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rachel Ip"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83840"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83845,"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83840\/revisions\/83845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crownwinecellars.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}