How improved Chinese wine will help Australia

Perversely, perhaps, one of the most significant opportunities facing Australian wine in China today lies in the development of a better local Chinese wine industry. Today China is actually one of the world’s largest wine producers, virtually all of which is sold domestically.

Chinese wine has traditionally been very inexpensive, significantly cheaper than even the lowest strata of imported bottles wine, although that is beginning to change on two counts. One is that there is a new emergent strata of ‘super-premium’ Chinese wine that is as expensive as many high-end imports. These wines, which in reality are little different from their cheaper counterparts, exist simply because enough people are prepared to buy them for whatever reason – not because of any inherent quality.

The second reason is that there are some Chinese wines, such as those from Grace Vineyard, easily the best producer in China today, and the Sino-French Demonstration Vineyard near Tianjin City are produced with a genuine commitment to quality and have delivered some very exciting results. Of these, only Grace Vineyard’s wine is commercially available, and it is justifiably priced well above the norm for Chinese wine.

The ongoing issue relates to the quality of daily Chinese wine and the lack of a genuine relationship between what appears on the labels of much Chinese wine and the contents of the bottles themselves. In China today, most wine is very inexpensive, and its quality is such that many Chinese people feel the need to add something to it, such as a Coke or a mixer, to make it more acceptable.

With the emerging thirst in China for quality wine, there exists an exciting opportunity for China’s own wineries to take a lead by tightening their approach towards wine production and labelling. The first step would be to make and market wines that genuinely reflect the place where they were grown and the vintage they were harvested in. This would help their customers learn about their wines and more accurately identify those they really wanted to buy. If managed carefully, this could lead to a steadily increasing respect for wine amongst the Chinese population, which would of course benefit all countries participating in the Chinese market. Without this development of trust between makers and consumers, it’s unlikely that the Chinese wine industry will ever reach its full potential.

Such an evolution would dramatically expand the Chinese wine market. Even if most Chinese wine remained an ‘entry level’ option for the short to medium term, it would benefit Chinese wine growers and makers. Given the potential size of its market, it would also be of huge benefit to imported wine, since one would expect the number of potential consumers being converted to genuine wine drinkers also to increase significantly.

Australian wine stands to gain most from such a development because it is promoted with easily understood and recognised brands, and because the important indicators like variety, region and vintage are prominent and easily identifiable features of Australian wine labels. Australia has an unrivalled opportunity to become the ‘go to’ country for the Chinese wine drinkers who want a clear, uncomplicated relationship between wine tastes and label terms.

Should the institutions within China demand more clarity from their winemakers, it would represent a win not only for wine drinkers in China, but also for Chinese wine producers. The other major beneficiary could well be Australia, whose wine producers are now beginning to establish a foothold in this intriguing and exciting market. Perhaps, therefore, it’s time for Australians to take a lead and lift the quality-related ambitions of Chinese wine producers. Please login to post comment