U.S. wine exports rising(2)
“We just don't have the quantities for export,” Evans said.
Tom Freeman, foreign trade commissioner for Riverside County, said the county's plan to triple the amount of land devoted to wine production from its current 7,000 acres is key. Learning to export is “an acquired taste,” he said, but help is available from the Office of Foreign Trade, which organizes export seminars for Inland businesses.
The Wine Institute, a San Francisco-based trade group, has more than a dozen trade representatives abroad and works to promote California wines and to provide wineries with market information and links to importers, spokeswoman Gladys Horiuchi said.
Rebaux Steyn, CEO of Temecula Valley Winery Management, said wineries in the valley get regular inquiries from buyers seeking supply for the growing export market. But deals are rare because winemakers cannot meet their price requirements, he said.
“There usually seems to be a pretty big gap,” Steyn said.
WINE ON THE WAY
Falkner Winery began shipping wine to China last year under an agreement with a business owner there. Falkner Winery co-owner Ray Falkner said that, if initial sales go well, his Chinese partners hope to build a production facility in China where wine from California would be bottled under the Falkner name. It also would have a restaurant, tasting room and lodging.
Leonesse Cellars dabbled in exporting several years ago, shipping to Singapore and, from there, into China and Malaysia. But after the first couple of shipments, the winery “had problems getting paid,” said Steyn, who is general manager. At the same time, wineries from Australia, Chile and other places were aggressively marketing and investing in China, and it didn’t seem that Leonesse could compete.
Slimmer wholesale margins mean wineries need to sell in large volume to make it worthwhile, and exporting can bring additional costs for labeling, shipping and other requirements, Steyn said.
“It's really tough to maintain the sale prices that the export market demands if you can sell our product retail,” Steyn said.
Still, wholesale has marketing benefits, because it helps spread awareness of your name and product, Steyn said.
“It probably will be that Temecula will not gain as big a reputation as we would like … until we engage more in wholesale. That’s where you get widespread recognition.”
