Mir Global definitely recommends you check out the article in its entirety where each rule is elaborated upon.

How do you pair a wine with Sichuan chicken in peppercorn lava or sweet, saucy hongshao rou? Wine pairing with Chinese food is possible, but does require significant experience. Here’s a list of suggestions, courtesy of the experts: sommeliers Jean-Marc Nolant of Park Hyatt Shanghai and Philippe Huser of Napa Valley Wine Bar & Restaurant.

Rule 1: Avoid foods that require dipping in vinegar

Rule 2: Make sure lighter flavored dishes are served first

Rule 3: Likewise, start with your white wine and then move on to red

Rule 4: Chinese food with Chinese wines? Yes, but select well

Rule 5: Choose your wine based on the preparation rather than the ingredients

Rule 6: Make sure your Chinese food and wine night is feasible

Read the complete article: Pairing wines with Chinese food: It can be done at CNNGo

At least five wineries within the Mudgee region have shown they are fighting an Australian wine glut by working with the NSW government’s Asian export wine strategy.

While it has been reported the Australian wine industry is producing 20 to 40 million excess cases of wine every year, there are numerous wineries jumping on board to enter one of the world’s fastest growing wine markets.

Rapid growth in the Chinese market has been a catalyst for the State Government committing resources to local wineries in an attempt to sell more NSW wines in Asia.

[...]  Click here to access the full article from the Mudgee Guardian

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Beijing wants a taste of Australian wine sector by Michael Sainsbury of The Australian

CHINESE companies are poised to target Australia’s $26 billion wine sector with a range of companies across the country — most of them government-owned — exploring deals that would result in them buying local wineries or taking equity interests in wine and beverage groups.

Australia’s largest trading partner is extending its investment activities into sectors other than mining and resources.

Shanghai-based food and beverage conglomerate Bright Group — one of China’s biggest — this week signalled its interest in paying $1.5bn cash for the sugar and renewable energy division of CSR, and is eyeing winemakers as part of a wide-ranging look at investment in Australia.

Other major beverage groups — including the massive food and drinks group COFCO, owned by the central government, which has recently stepped into the wine market in China as a major distributor — are also believed to be mulling Australian wine industry purchases.

[...]  Click here to read the full article from The Australian

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Grape Wall of China – CHINA is tipped to become the world’s biggest wine producer by Jane Hamilton of The Sun – UK

The Far East giant – better known for its Great Wall than its vineyards – already makes more wine than Spain and Portugal.

And with British supermarkets stocking up, experts predict it will overtake Australia in 2010 and Italy and France within 50 years.

Nine out of ten bottles of Chinese wine are red. Supermarket chain Morrisons has trialled one and now Waitrose plans to sell another.

Waitrose wine buyer Andrew Shaw said: “Chinese wine is the hot new trend. We’re hoping to have a quality one in store by the end of the year.”

[...]  Click here to read the full article from The Sun – UK

China’s wine imports are slowing reports HKTDC in this article. Wine imports increased a incredible 100% between 2006-2007 but slowed between 2008-2009, growing only 36%. None the less, total imports reached a impressive 6,389,439 cases, or 76,673,268 bottles of wine, making China the world’s largest wine import market (once again according to this HKTDC article).

Despite the slow down, the macro picture of China’s wine market is still overwhelming positive for wine exporters, especially for lower cost producers in the Southern Hemisphere.

The challenge for Argentinean and Chilean producers will be to figure out a way in which to take advantage of a more conservative and cost conscious Chinese consumer in the midst of the global economic downturn.

The HKTDC article, is of the opinion that the biggest winner from slowing wine imports will be China’s domestic producers. While this may be partially true, Mir Global Marketing Co., attributes the rise in the consumption of domestically produced Chinese wine to other far more significant market factors.

1) The global slowdown has forced consumers around the world to cut back on luxury spending and to be more cost conscious. For the Chinese wine consumer who has yet to develop their wine pallet and is exploring wine for their first time, it makes sense they would economically rationalize to spend 20 rmb on a Chinese bottle versus 120 rmb on a French bottle.

2) Wine demand in China can partially be attributed to the symbolism behind wine. As the great American author Ernest Hemingway once said, “Wine is the most civilized thing in the world.” If you are a Chinese consumer who has yet to develop your personal wine preferences and are trying to network in the business or political world where it is a good thing to appear “sophisticated,” you might be able to accomplish this with a Chinese bottle of wine. So, why invest in a expensive French or Italian bottle of wine?

Although, if a lower-middle class university student was about to meet with the head of Google’s Recruiting Office in Beijing, and had never tasted wine in his/her life, I think it would justify dipping into your savings for a French bottle of wine. But, if you’re simply going out for a nice drink with some friends on a Friday night to the Beijing’s bar district, splitting a bottle of French wine when you don’t know what you’re tasting will not be a common site.

To further explain:

A considerable amount of wine demand in China is generated from a new elite class of consumers with considerable spending power who can afford expensive wines and liquors. This includes, the rising class of sophisticated, metropolitan consumers in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Businessmen and women. Politicians. Wealthy university students. Chinese who have lived abroad. And of course, foreigners living or visiting China.

However, the majority of China’s new wine consumers can not afford to indulge in relatively expensive bottles of wine, especially in times of economic uncertainty. What is more likely to occur is the new middle class consumers in 2nd and 3rd tier Chinese cities like Harbin, Dalian, Suzhou, Chongqing, Kunming, Taiyuan, etc will attempt to emulate (the best they can) China’s new class of rising elites.

This has been the case in societies around the world since the dawn of civilization.

The main difficulty for Argentine and Chilean producers at the moment is convincing the very brand conscious Chinese to trust the quality of their products. France remains synonymous with quality when it comes to wine, while wines from Italy, Australia and Chile have had to struggle for years to build a trusting image with Chinese consumers.

Opportunity has come knocking at the door. Before you answer, just make sure you and your company are ready.

Bennett Reiss – International Trade Consultant at Mir Global Marketing Co.

China’s Wine Imports Slowing — HKTDC

“China has always been the biggest market of wine imports globally. However, the situation is changing. With the rise of China’s domestic wine production, China’s import of wine is on a downward turn.

After world renowned brands Hennessy, Remy Martin and Martell, Courvoisier’s Napoleon wine, one the four top-class brands of wine in the world has announced its formal entry into the Chinese market. Not long ago, Hennessy announced the debut of its Iridescence, a world classic type X.O. on the China market, alleging that China was its biggest consumption market for the first time.

Although various brands of imported wine products have poured into China’s market, the import growth has slowed down. According to statistics from the customs, China’s import of packed wine of less than two litres slowed down its growth last year, and the import of wine in packaging of more than two litres has stayed at the same level for three successive years. After hefty rises of about 100% in the 2006-2007 period, China’s import of wine was 6,389,439 cases of packages of less than two litres (nine litres per case), rising 36% year on year.

The increase of raw materials for wine production has weakened China’s dependence on import. With the expansion of planting areas for grapes, the raw materials for wine production have increased gradually. However, with increasing expansion of China’s wine market, there will be more and more foreign brands of wine entering the China market, indicating more fierce competition for China’s wine- making industry in the coming years. “

As producers in North America and Europe watch their grapes ripen, vintners in Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand are preparing to sample their first bottles of 2009.

A healthy growing season is paramount in the process of ultimately producing a quality wine. This is of course why certain regions in the world excel in wine making. These regions are blessed with extremely conducive climates for growing grapes used in wine making. This is why regions like Mendoza, Argentina have historically been known to consistently produce high quality wines. Click here to read more about the region of Mendoza from Mir Global Marketing’s home page)

This article from the Winespectator.com provides links to the publications reports on how the 2009 grapes have turned out in Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Argentina: Heat spike hurts Argentine white wines, but reds weather the warmth

Chile: A warm and dry year leads to ripe wines and slightly higher yields

South Africa: South Africa’s wine regions enjoy a cool, dry season, producing quality across the board

Australia: Yields are down in most regions, but a cool, dry season may have produced elegant reds

New Zealand: A moderate growing season bodes well for the country’s reds and whites

To access complete country harvest and grape reports from the Winespectator.com, please click on each respective country link

WA winemakers look to Asia to beat industry downturn
By Georgia Loney of The West Australia

WA winemakers are turning to emerging markets in Taiwan, Nepal and South Korea to help the industry through the global economic crisis, as traditional markets in Britain and the US dry up.

Major wine importers from Japan, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand toured WA wine regions this week in search of supplies.

The value of Asian markets is rising rapidly, with China and Taiwan buying 54 per cent and 23 per cent more of Australian wine over the past year, while the volume of exports to Nepal is up 97 per cent.

Taiwanese wine importers Shelly Wu and Winston Lin signed a deal last month to import Cullen Wines from Margaret River and said there was a strong market for Australian fine wine in Taiwan but it was overwhelmingly for red varieties. Ms Wu said WA shiraz was popular. “The market for (fine wine) has been developed over the last 20 years but they mostly used to drink French wines. Now there is stronger interest in new world wines,” she said.

“There is strong interest in shiraz from Australia and the cabernet sauvignon is beautiful compared to the European style. We are adding to our portfolio of WA wines because the wine style is very elegant and very approachable to the Taiwanese palate.”

Nepalese wine buyer Amit Agrawal imports wine from the Hunter Valley in NSW and is yet to buy any WA wine.

He said the tiny country’s thriving tourism industry generated demand for fine wine. “Because we like spicy types of food, sauvignon blanc goes well,” he said.

Britain and the US remain by far the biggest wine export markets but their value has fallen 20 per cent and 12 per cent respectively over the past year.

“We want to prove that Vietnam is a country where tea, beer and whiskey are popular. This event is a chance to popularize Australia to South East Asia”, said Jim Cawood, chief executive officer of Vino Vietnam, the Australian wine importer and distributor and the host of the event.

The festival will have the participation of numerous restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City.

Australian well-known chef, Paul McMahon, from Catalina Restaurant Rose Bay in Sydney will make a perfect menu for lunch and dinner for the whole week, in which Australian food matches the correct wine.

In addition to the two day festival, held by the Australian General Consul and co-sponsored by ANZ, Jetstar, New World Hotel Saigon, RED and the World Magazine, the first Australian Wine Competition will be on May 28th, aiming to name the best Australian wine on the market.

The winning wine will be served at the Gala Evening scheduled for the following day.

[Article Source] — HNM

Translated by Mai Huong

Bronco Wine Co. in Ceres, Stanislaus County produces more than just box wine like Franzia. The group is also behind other affordable brands such as Charles Shaw, Crane Lake and Napa Ridge.

Year to date, Bronco’s Wine sales are up 25% on volume. Charles Shaw alone is currently selling about 6 million cases a year. The company has aspirations of eventually moving 100 million cases a year.

Where do they expect to find the bulk of their buyers? You guessed it, China.

Next month, the plan is to unveil a new Australian Chardonnay by the name of “Down Under.” It will sell for half the price of Yellow Tale, currently one of the most consumed, affordable, white wine around the world.

Fred Franzia, who sold his brand to Bronco wines, had the following words to offer to offer the SF Chronicle, in this article.

“His only worry seems to be that he might run out of wine – even though he controls reportedly 40,000 acres and buys far more in bulk. “We’ll probably have to allocate. Imagine that.”

This is the year, after all, when cult-wine allocations are being busted, when retailers can cherry-pick the finest wines. And yet many wineries still won’t flinch on pricing. Suddenly, Franzia’s crusade against high prices – he still believes no wine should cost more than 10 bucks – has an eerie resonance.

Mir Global Wine Corner Analysis

It does not take a genious to figure out Franzia’s market strategy, especially when it comes to China. In general, Franzia hopes to capitalize on the rising consumption of wine in markets like the United States, China and Russia by tempting people who like to drink with cheap prices and wine that doesn’t taste like rubbing alcohol.

Franzia box wine and Charles Shaw do taste better than the majority of Chinese wines I sampled in the past. That does not however mean that they are by any means… good.

In the United States where a great variety quality wines from Chile, Argentina and Australia are widely Franzia will get lucky if this recession forces consumers to substitute slightly higher priced, quality wines from these countries for their poor alternative.

If Franzia is able to slightly improve its quality and hook consumers however, I can see their strategy working out to a certain extent.

As for China. This is great news for companies like my own Mir Global Marketing Co., which specialize in South American wines.

If Franzia goes through the trouble to promote their cheap products in China and are able to successfully get the Chinese consumers buying cheap, lower quality Chinese wines to switch to their wines, they will be doing South American wines a great favor.

One of the main difficulties for Argentine producers at the moment is convincing the very brand conscious Chinese to trust the quality of their products. France remains synonymous with quality when it comes to wine, while wines from Italy, Australia and Chile had to struggle for years to build a trusting image with Chinese consumers.

Franzia already has a decent customer base in China where wines are outrageously over-priced. Although something just does not sit well with me when you must pay $6-8 for a glass of Franzia.

What if there was a Chardonnay from Argentina listed on a menu just Franzia’s selection?

If Franzia’s marketing and promotion of their own wines have worked, this will inevitably mean the Chinese consumer has become more educated about wines and that his/her tastes have evolved.

I have a feeling, after drinking a few glasses of Franzia, the sophisticated wine drinker in China will decide to spend a few extra RMB for a much higher quality glass of wine.

So let me say the following:

“Thank you Franzia.”

Bennett Reiss – International Trade Consultant at Mir Global Marketing Co.