Record numbers of Chinese wine trade, media and consumers enthusiastically participated in the Wine Australia China Roadshow 2018 that visited Shenyang, Jinan and Wuhan before concluding in Shanghai on 11 June 2018.

Senator Anne Ruston, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, said helping Australian wine businesses take their wines to the Chinese market through activities like the China Roadshow was a key focus of the Australian Government’s $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package.

“We want to help business spend more time in market and visit more cities so that they can build interest and grow demand for Australia’s high-quality wines,” she said.

Wine Australia’s regional general manager David Lucas said that he was delighted by the strong response of the wine trade, media and key opinion leaders in the four cities visited.

“We had a record number of participants in this year’s Roadshow, with more than 2,500 trade, media and key opinion leaders attending the Buyer and Grand Tastings of 700 wines and more than 1,000 people participating in the 10 master classes.

“Some master class categories were held for the first time and every class was oversubscribed.

“This reflects the widespread desire for knowledge and information about Australian wines.

“The attendees embraced our strong offering that celebrated the authenticity and diversity of Australian Wine Made Our Way and there is a real sense of enthusiasm for Australian wines and a desire to deepen understanding,” he said.

Lucas said the 71 exhibitors were impressed with the expertise and interest shown by attendees, with many business leads to follow up in weeks and months to come.

“Notably, this year many of the attendees were younger people and there was also a growing interest in white and sparkling wines and the full range of red varieties being presented,” he added.

Corinne Mui, international wine educator, presented at master classes in each of the four cities.

“I was deeply impressed by people’s existing knowledge about wine and their thirst to know more.

“In each city, there was a real enthusiasm to understand more about Australian wine styles and regions and the people who craft them,” she said.

Eva Xie, a food and wine critic and senior editor of China Food Newspaper said: “The Roadshow has such a large scale and is very well organised, with clear topics, impressive wines and interesting master classes, which reflect the very high quality of Australian wine.

“Wine Australia China Roadshow is much more eye-catching compared with other countries/regions’ trade shows and marketing activities in the China market.”

People also welcomed the opportunity to taste the wide range of wines in the second tier cities.

Leon Wang, a journalist from Liaoning Radio and Television Station, said: “this is quite a rare chance for wine lovers in a second-tier city like Shenyang to taste so many Australian wines from various regions and different varieties at one time, and we can even talk to winemakers and get to know their cutting-edge concepts.

“I do hope we can see more activities of Australian wine like this coming to Shenyang,” he added.

More information about the Roadshow is available here.