Pages Tomasello uncorks a larger shipment for China

Tomasello Winery, in Hammonton, said it is shipping 964 cases of its wine for distribution in southern China, according to winery co-owner Charlie Tomasello. The shipment is the winery’s second to China and nearly double the 500 cases sent in May 2009.

China is a developing market for wine, Tomasello said.

“There is a segment [that] enjoys wine, which parlay well to Asian cuisine,” such as fruit wines, he said. Other wine lovers in China gravitate to red wines, Tomasello said, while ice wines enjoy broad appeal. “As the market matures even further, it will afford us other opportunities,” he said.

Tomasello Winery is selling its wine through Jiangmen Pengjiang Huiming Trading Co., which will distribute the wine to retailers, restaurants and hotels, Tomasello said. “This is a different importer,” he said. “I think they have the ability to take us to more markets.”

Tomasello has previously shipped wine to Japan, South Korea and Singapore, he said. The latest Chinese shipment includes cabernet sauvignon, cabernet reserve, ice wine, merlot, and pomegranate and blueberry wines.

“I see a significant potential market with a lot of possibility for development,” Tomasello said. The winery, he said, is always looking for sales opportunities: “In this economy, you don’t turn down any business.”