Chinese visitors to compare Australia's wine regions

Chinese delegates will tour Australia's wine regions this week as part of the national wine industry's biggest collaborative initiative ever.

A total of 100 importers, retailers and restaurateurs from China will visit wine regions across the country to participate in Vintage 2011.

Wine Australia's Lucy Anderson says the large-scale tour is designed to promote the variety of Australian wines to China's evolving market.

"A lot of the references that I've heard in China are about Australian wine being simple," she said.

"So the perception that Australia is just one country and the wines are the same from across is Australia is something that we wanted to challenge by promoting and working with 16 regions that all have very different vintage conditions from one year to the next."