Companies
US wineries seek growing Chinese market
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-08-09 11:05
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A man smells a glass of red wine from Spain during a tasting session at Vinexpo Asia-Pacific, the International Wine and Spirits Exhibition for the Asia-Pacific region, in Hong Kong May 28, 2008. [Photo / Agencies] |
Hong Kong's wine imports have soared since it eliminated an 80 percent excise tax in 2008. The US Department of Agriculture says it imported a record $491 million of wine last year. Most came from France, but the US accounts for 8 percent of those imports.
Hong Kong is now the fourth-largest export market for US wines behind Canada, the European Union and Japan, and it's a major re-exporter to the Chinese mainland and other points.
Last year Washington exported about $9.7 million in wine, but just $721,000 to Hong Kong and $414,000 to the mainland, according to figures from Global Trade Information Services Inc cited by the state Agriculture Department. Exports to Hong Kong jumped 529 percent, however.
Most Oregon wineries are family affairs that sell domestically, said Katie Bray, Oregon Wine Board export manager. A small but eager group is interested in exports, and China has great potential, she said, but the board's limited promotional money is focused on the major foreign markets: Japan, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Watson's Wine Cellar, Hong Kong's largest specialty wine chain, does sell Oregon's Erath and Argyle wines, however.
"All of a sudden there's an interest in Northwest wines," said Argyle winemaker Rollin Soles. His Willamette Valley winery produces 40,000 to 45,000 cases a year and has shipped about 200 cases to Hong Kong's largest specialty wine chain, Watson's Wine Cellar, in the past six months.
He sends only his top wines — putting the "best foot forward" to build the region's reputation.