Chinese drinkers developing a taste for Australia's top drops

Chinese drinkers are developing a taste for better-quality Australian wine, with export sales falling by volume but surging in value during the past 12 months. 

A report from export body Wine Australia shows exports to China were 46 million litres for the 12 months to the end of September, down 2 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

However, the fall was driven by a 61 per cent fall in sales volumes of bulk white wine, while sales of more expensive bottled red wines soared by 32 per cent. This saw total sales to China rise by 32 per cent to $194 million, making it Australia's fastest growing wine export market.

China imported less than $10m worth of Australian wine in 2004. However, rising incomes and increasingly Western diets have seen sales grow by an average of more than 50 per cent annually.

But the growth in Chinese sales was not enough to offset declines among Australia's largest wine export customers, with exports to Britain down 6 per cent to 256 million litres while the US took just 179 million litres, down 14 per cent.

Total wine exports were down 7 per cent to 720 million litres, with sales by value down 8 per cent to $1.93 billion.