Australian Wineries eye Chinese market

MARKET MOVES: Robert Oatley Vineyards’ senior winemaker James Manners (centre) with buyer Lisa Zhu-St John (l) and Director General of Department of Primary Industries George Davey (r). 130110/3615

At least five wineries within the Mudgee region have shown they are fighting an Australian wine glut by working with the NSW government’s Asian export wine strategy.

While it has been reported the Australian wine industry is producing 20 to 40 million excess cases of wine every year, there are numerous wineries jumping on board to enter one of the world’s fastest growing wine markets.

Rapid growth in the Chinese market has been a catalyst for the State Government committing resources to local wineries in an attempt to sell more NSW wines in Asia.

On Tuesday afternoon, Director General of the Department of Primary Industries George Davey and Chair of the NSW Wine Industry Association David Lowe showed Chinese wine buyers what the Mudgee region has to offer.

“The wine industry in China is expanding if not doubling every year,” Mr Davey said.

“Part of our strategy is to exhibit local wineries to Chinese wine buyers so they can see for themselves why NSW has some of the best wine Australia has to offer.”

Mr Davey said already one Chinese buyer had signed specific deals with multiple NSW wineries as a result of the Asian strategy.

“We took a buyer to Mudgee, Orange, Hunter Valley and the Riverina six weeks ago and he was very interested in purchasing NSW wine,” Mr Davey said.

Rare Vintage Wines representative Lisa Zhu-St John who supplies wines to restaurants and hotels in China was one buyer in Mudgee on Tuesday.

She met with representatives of Logan, Robert Stein, Lowe Family Robert Oatley and Mudgee Wines vineyards.

The current ratio of the wine market in China consists of 70 per cent red and 30 per cent white but Mr Davey expects this to change once more people are educated about Australian wine.

“Currently red wine is more popular with the significance [of red] to culture in China and many still believe corked wines are the best,” Mr Davey said.

“Obviously NSW produces some of the best wines which are not corked and our job is to educate the market as many of the buyers are not necessarily wine drinkers themselves.”

Wine exports to China and Hong Kong were worth $115 million in 2008, making it Australia’s fourth largest wine export market.

Mr Davey along and Mr Lowe were traveling with the Chinese representatives to Orange wineries on Wednesday before heading to the Hunter Valley.