Acustralian top-end wines target China market

Asian tastes for top-end wines also offer the prospect of higher margins than cheaper exports to other markets.

"This is a key growth market for us. I am extremely confident that our investments in this market will drive our top-line growth and make a significant contribution to our future earnings," Treasury's chief executive, David Dearie, told Reuters via email.

Shares in Treasury Wine surged 11 percent in July on a report that China's Bright Foods was considering a bid, which the Chinese company denied.

This year, Wine Australia, the Australian government's industry marketing body, brought 100 wine importers, retailers and restaurateurs from China and sent them to 16 wineries across Australia to learn first-hand about regional wines and the handmade nature of the winemaking process.

"It was an educational, lifestyle trip. They go back and share that experience about the country and the wine," said Lucy Anderson, Hong-Kong based director for Asia at Wine Australia.

She said traditional gift-giving and corporate markets had driven growth, but the rising middle class was developing a taste for Western habits such as wine drinking, especially people who had studied or worked overseas.

Wine Australia runs seminars and roadshows in many Chinese cities with government agency Austrade.

Yet some insiders warn the industry against putting all its bottles in one basket.

"I don't think it's going to be the silver bullet to solve Australia's woes," says Troy Christensen, chief executive of Accolade Wines, owned by private equity firm CHAMP.