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

Read more directly from the New Yorker:  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2009/11/red-red-wine.html#ixzz0XWzunqWl

HONG KONG — Chinese wine imports have soared more than ten-fold in the past few years but foreign producers hoping to cash in on the boom are warning the market is fickle and not for the faint of heart.

China is on track to import 10 million cases of wine this year, up from 840,000 in 2004, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).

Wangfujing, Beijing - 2006

Asian wine consumption, excluding Japan, is expected to double from this year to 27 billion US dollars in 2017, the council believes, with much of that growth driven by Hong Kong and cash-rich China.

In another sign of the growth of the market, last week’s Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair, the second such annual event, attracted 520 exhibitors from 34 countries — double last year’s number.

“Many people are shocked by the speed of the growth,” said Raymond Yip, the HKTDC’s assistant director. “But there is a lot of pent-up demand for wine.”

The disposable income of an emerging Chinese middle class has grown and many of its members are choosing wine as a healthier alternative to spirits, Yip said.

“People are getting more health conscious and all of a sudden wine has become fashionable,” he added.

But Raymond Signorello, proprietor of Signorello Vineyards in California’s Napa Valley, said he has been struggling to find the right agent to market his premium reds on the mainland.

“It’s kind of a gold rush,” he told AFP from his booth at the fair.

[...]   Click here to read the full article from AFP

* Market:  Food and Drink
* Published Date: 21/10/2009
* Report Title: Wine – BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) Industry Guide
* Table of Contents: View Table of Contents
* Report Type: Market Report
* Country: Global
* Number of Pages: 102

The Wine – BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) Industry Guide is an essential resource for top-level data and analysis covering the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) Wine industry. The report includes easily comparable data on market value, volume, segmentation and market share, plus full five year market forecasts. It examines future problems, innovations and potential growth areas within the market.

Scope of the Report

• Contains an executive summary and data on value, volume and segmentation
• Provides textual analysis of the industry´s prospects, competitive landscape and profiles of the leading companies
• Incorporates in-depth five forces competitive environment analysis and scorecards
• Compares data from Brazil, Russia, India, and China, alongside individual chapters on each BRIC country; Brazil, Russia, India and China
• Includes a five-year forecast of the industry

Highlights

• The BRIC Wine market grew by 8.5% between 2004 and 2008 to reach a value of $25.3 billion.
• In 2013, the market is forecast to have a value of $34.6 billion, an increase of 6.5% from 2008.
• India was the fastest growing country with a CAGR of 21.2% over the 2004?08 period.
• Why you should buy this report
  • Spot future trends and developments
  • Inform your business decisions
  • Add weight to presentations and marketing materials
  • Save time carrying out entry-level research

Market Definition

The wine market consists of fortified wine, sparkling wine and still wine. The market is valued according to retail selling price (RSP) and includes any applicable taxes.

Click here to view the table of contents from the report

The China chapter breaks down as follows:CHAPTER 6 WINE IN CHINA 78

6.1 Market Overview 78
6.2 Market Value 79
6.3 Market Volume 80
6.4 Market Segmentation I 81
6.5 Market Segmentation II 82
6.6 Market Share 83
6.7 Five Forces Analysis 84
6.8 Leading Companies 92
6.9 Distribution 97
6.10 Market Forecasts 98
6.11 Macroeconomic Indicators 100

John Gai, founder and managing director at Palette Vino's

For the 41-year-old Beijing native, chef and wine expert, wine appreciation is an education that need not be expensive.

And it is this idea that forms the foundation of his two Beijing-based businesses: Palette Wines, a wine wholesale and distribution company, and Palette Vino, bistros he opened to bring affordable foreign wines and his passion for fine dining together.

Palette Wines, the main importer for Palette Vino restaurants, is how Gai manages to keep prices reasonable.

“Seventy percent of our wines we import ourselves,” he said. “We negotiate the lowest price from producers, vineyards and agents and then ship them to China, where we manage that cost as well.”

Just how Gai got his passion for wines and fine dining has been an odyssey, and spans the entire Eurasian continent.

In 1992, after a job opening a Chinese restaurant in Hungary fell through, he took the time to travel around the Baltic States and fell in love with Talinn, Estonia’s capital city.

“It was a beautiful, medieval city,” he recalled.

“It was right after it gained its independence from the Soviet Union, so I saw an opportunity to open the first Chinese restaurant in all the Baltic States,” he said.

However, it was only when Gai returned to Beijing in 1996 that he started managing the CourtYard hutong restaurant and became closely involved with wines.

Two years later in 1998 he met members of the Zonin family, who run Italy’s largest privately owned vineyard and winemaking business, at a Beijing wine exhibition and they took him on as their manager for China.

“It was my job to look for the importers and distributors for the company, analyzing local market trends and reporting it back to the family,” he said.

“I also helped train the staff to know about wines.”

In September 2002 he founded Palette Wines, a name suggested by a close friend to impart a rich variety of flavors and colors.

Until recently Palette Wines sold exclusively to hotels, companies and private customers.

But in 2005, it opened the first Palette Vino restaurant and wine bar in Shunyi district near Pinnacle Plaza, then a second in Central Park (a retail wine store), and by the end of 2008 another in Dongsi Yitiao.

Palette Wines claims the largest South African wine portfolio in Beijing, using nine different vineyards and each with two or three different wines, plus extensive Spanish, Italian and Australian portfolios.

But his diverse selection is being overlooked by inexperienced and wealthy taste buds.

“Some people drink names, not wine,” he said declaratively.

“They just don’t know enough, which is why the industry of importing wines into China tends to be big business.”

Gai said the costs of wine are dropping in developed markets such as the US and parts of Europe, Holland and Germany.

“It seems costs became more reasonable over time because it became more competitive, and people would not accept these high prices,” he said.

“This trend has not really reached big hotels and restaurants here.

Despite his best efforts to keep the cost of wines available at his bistros low, Gai’s business struggles to expand beyond Beijing. Gai admits he has had a tough year.

“I think, for now, finance is a big issue,” he said.

“It really depends on how we look at this as a long-term investment and whether or not we copy it to another location.”

To show off some “absolutely, very delicious” Spanish wines, reasonably priced from suppliers between 200 and 300 yuan, Gai served up a bottle of Abrego 2006, made from Tempranillo grapes found in Castilla, Spain (200 yuan).

With its low tanning, caramel and prune accents with a medium body, it demands to be served all by itself.

“The grapes were picked at the right time,” he remarked.

“This vineyard picks them at night and quickly transports them to the winery, and the barrels are medium-toasted oak so as not to overpower.”

His full bodied and rich personal insights are evidently present in every bottle he sells.

After partnering with France during this year’s show, the 3-day Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair that concluded successfully last week, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council which organises the show has announced that Australia will be the partner country next year.

An agreement between the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and the HKTDC was signed last week, following the number of exhibitors taking part this year. Australia was the country with the largest representation at the show with 65 participants.

Fred Lam, executive director of the HKTDC, said: “It seems fitting that when it comes to announcing our partner country for next year we are passing the baton from the Old World to the New World,” France was the partner country during the second edition.

Australia is Hong Kong’s fourth-largest supplier of wine and the value of imports from Australia to Hong Kong between January and September this year increased by 22% compared with the same period last year, according to Drinks Business.

India also showed a decent presence with ten wineries present- Sula, Grover, Indage, UB, Vintage, Big Banyan, d’Ori, Deccan Plateau, Renaissance, and Empire. Mrs. V. Kotwal, CEO of the Indian Grape Processing Board which organised the producers, was very satisfied with the response and hopes that next year will see a bigger participation at the show. The constant stream of people at the Indian stand was quite encouraging.

A group of importers had also visited the show under the banner of Indian Wine Academy and most were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the show, the seminars, amount of wineries present and the business possibilities that came up.

Next year’s Fair will be a big test of the prowess as the Vinexpo Hong Kong also lands up during the same year.

NAPA, Calif., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ — The continued growth of Argentine wine  imports to the US (more than 40% annually over three years) has made it the  most important “import to watch” in the wine  ndustry.

That New Age White is the largest-selling Argentine white wine in just-released Nielsen Research data on Argentine wines sales in the US makes it a “hot brand” in a hot category. This does not surprise Argentines, who say that Americans have finally discovered what bar patrons and club-goers in Buenos Aires and the rest of the country have long-known – New Age is the most unique, flavorful, and versatile Argentine white wine on the market.

Direct Wines Selects iMarketing LTD As Agency Of Record For All Online Marketing Initiatives – PRNewswire/ iMarketing LTD

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ — iMarketing LTD (www.iMarketingltd.com), a full-service online marketing agency, today announced that it has been selected to implement an integrated online marketing program for Direct Wines, supporting the company’s expansion in the US and increased emphasis on online sales**. Through affiliate, search engine, and CPA marketing, iMarketing will be focused on generating more cost-effective orders for Direct Wines, increasing site traffic and sales growth with improved ROI.

Editorial: Malaysia pact boosts Asean trade strategy – New Zealand Herald

And then there were seven. New Zealand’s latest free-trade agreement, with Malaysia, was accompanied by the customary enthusiasm from politicians and business representatives. There was much talk of a gateway into Asia, and the Prime Minister described it as “a significant step forward in relations with Malaysia and further evidence of our economic integration with Asia”. Michael Barnett, of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, said it was a great opportunity for businesses if they chose to take it. Clearly, this is a welcome development, but its importance lies as much in its actual signing as in the likelihood of any dramatic change in trade between New Zealand and Malaysia.

…

Equally, it underlined the growth in Asia of a similar sentiment. Formulating an agreement with Malaysia was, obviously, always going to be far simpler than the ground-breaking deal struck with China last year. But that does not mean there were no complications. For the first time, Malaysia has, at New Zealand’s insistence, agreed to include environmental and labour-law co-operation clauses in such a pact. New Zealand, for its part, had to bow to Muslim Malaysia’s demand that alcohol-related products, notably wine, be excluded