Austrade’s Global Food Team leader, Lyndel Jack, said China has great potential as a market for Australian wine, given people’s increasing disposable incomes and increased awareness of Australian wine.

“One of the marketing strategies which works well in China is providing wine culture education, another sentence on this explaining what it means would be worthwhile” Ms Jack said.

A number of the visiting wine buyers from China and Vietnam will tour the Hunter Valley this week to meet with potential suppliers. Austrade’s regional Trade Commissioner for the Hunter Region, David Knapton, said the tour will take in some of Australia’s larger and better-known producers, as well as smaller wineries and those new to exporting.

“Many wineries in the Hunter Valley are interested in markets like China and Vietnam, because those markets offer opportunities for small volume suppliers,” Mr Knapton said.

“China and Vietnam are emerging markets for wine, so they are attractive to smaller producers who want to start small and grow with the market.

“For example, I’ve been working with a local winery that has recently signed a three-year contract to supply a range of their wines to an importer in China, and another local winery is in the process of appointing an agent in Vietnam,” he said.

In 2001-02, Australia exported $3 million of wine to China. This is only a fraction of Australian exports to the UK ($864 million) and the US ($652 million) and only a fraction of China’s total wine imports (US$23.2 million in 2002). However, China has great potential as a market for Australian wine And is actively being pursued by Australian winemakers.

In Vietnam, French wines dominate retail shelves and restaurant wine lists, primarily due to historical ties. Austrade’s Business Development Manager from Ho Chi Minh City said Vietnam was a French colony for 100 years and the word ‘wine’ has been equated with ‘Bordeaux’, and Bordeaux wines represent about 50 per cent of French wine imported into Vietnam.

Participating in the Hunter Valley Wine Tour, Nguyen The Tien, General Director of wine importer Wine World Company Ltd, currently imports around 30 container loads of wine every year from France. He is in Australia to source premium Australian brands in order to satisfy customer demand for a greater range of wines.

Mr Tan said that hotels and restaurants are starting to demand a wider range of product from their suppliers and Australian wines are well received due to offering premium quality at a reasonable price.