CHINA ON MY MIND

Wine producers are ramping up their efforts to corner the Chinese fine wine market. Patience, perseverance and years of relationship-building have led to some clear and present sales for some switched-on Kiwi wine brands as the Chinese are now starting to understand that wine doesn't need to come from France to be fantastic. So though our key export markets are still Australia, Britain and the United States, New Zealand producers are finding innovative ways to give the Chinese a taste of Kiwi.

Villa Maria has been exporting to China since 2000 and it's its most rapidly growing region. In 2010 it employed its first dedicated Asia market manager. Last year it appointed its first China-based employee and in May it unveiled a fully translated Mandarin website. It was launched online through social media platform Weibo (China's version of Twitter).

China has 538 million internet users and more than half are active on Weibo, so having an online presence is an essential part of brand-building. To direct Chinese consumers to its Mandarin mobile site, Villa Maria has attached QR (quick response) code stickers to its 2012 new release wines, which also allows it to interact with Villa's 50th vintage celebrations.

Getting its message to Chinese wine consumers has also been a priority for Hawke's Bay Winegrowers.

"There is a growing interest and inquiry about Hawke's Bay wine as a result of the Chinese enthusiasm for high-quality premium red wines that this region is renowned for," says executive officer Lyn Bevin. Twenty-six of the regions wineries export to China and visitor numbers to the winehawkesbay.co.nz website are about 40,000 hits a month, prompting Hawke's Bay Winegrowers to have their site translated into Mandarin. "We are keen to make it as easy as possible for Chinese visitors to find what they need from our site," Bevin says. Videos on the site featuring local wine personalities have Mandarin subtitles.

"Some of our visitors simply want to download the wine trail map and get tips on etiquette, but others want serious information on soils, terroir and other winemaking information," Bevin says. "There's specific information just for members, and there is also a section for trade and media. We also provide other tourism information about Hawke's Bay, so it's a multi-faceted site." Printed material translated into Chinese is available to visiting Chinese media, buyers and wine lovers.