Meet the new [yellow tail]: made in Chile, destined for China

Australia's biggest wine export brand, [yellow tail], has launched a Chilean-made range for the Chinese market to sidestep China’s punishing tariffs on Australian wine, Chinese wine website Vino Joy News reports.

The fruit is understood to have been sourced from one of Chile’s biggest producers, Santa Carolina, and the range will be called [yellow tail] World Series, Vino Joy said.



The move follows the move by another Australian wine giant, Treasury Wine Estates, to bypass tariffs by making Rawson’s Retreat wines in South Africa for the Chinese market.

Penfolds, with previous huge sales in the Chinese market, has revealed plans to launch its Chinese-made Penfolds wines in second half of the year.

The [yellow tail] range for China includes four varietals: cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, merlot and chardonnay.

In an email to Vino Joy News, Libby Nutt, general manager of marketing and export sales, said: “We have a fantastic and loyal consumer base in China, where [yellow tail] wines have been available since 2007.

"We are excited to launch [yellow tail] World Series so we can continue to offer consumers everything they have come to expect from the [yellow tail] brand - great wines full of flavour, from a brand with a fun and vibrant personality.”

[yellow tail] is owned by the Riverina-based Casella family.

The wine will be sold at RMB 53 (US$8) a bottle on China’s leading e-commerce platform JD.com, or RMB 318 (US$48) for a case of six.