Australian wine producers hail "strong" results from Vinexpo Asia

Australian wine producers from 31 different regions attended Vinexpo Asia, the leading trade exhibition for wine and spirits professionals in the region in Hong Kong last week.

Wine Australia led the Australian contingent of 63 wineries as Vinexpo Asia 2024 brought together more than 14,000 trade visitors from 60 countries, who had the opportunity to engage with exhibitors from around the world over three days.

The Australian Wine Pavilion is a firm fixture at the event and offered producers a chance to showcase their brands to the most influential buyers, importers, distributors, producers, sommeliers, and merchants from around the world,

Wine Australia general manager for marketing, Paul Turale, said the activities around the pavilion supported Australian wineries to build connections to help unlock the growing opportunities across markets in Asia.

“In-person connections are so important for our sector and it’s been heartening to see such a strong interest from the trade in the diversity and quality of Australian wine over the three days,” he said.

“There is a real sense of optimism about the opportunities for Australian wine in Asia - it’s a hopeful and exciting time for Australian wine producers.”

Turale said the new Australian Wine national branding was also previewed at Vinexpo.

“The national brand encapsulates the adventure and diversity of Australian winemaking and it was great to see this applied across the pavilion and in supporting regional and wine brand assets at Vinexpo,” he said.

“This is our first time at Vinexpo Asia and it's been a really great experience to try and understand the big complex market that is Asia," said Kim Chalmers of Chalmers Wines in Victoria.

"We've been impressed with our visitors from mainland China who are so excited to have new, different Australian wines back and we've also been excited to learn that there is a thirst for understanding the diversity of Australian wine.”

Paul McArdle from Small Wonder in Tasmania and Wayfinder in Western Australia said: "The numbers and the diversity of cultures and countries at Vinexpo Asia is overwhelming.

"We’ve certainly had a lot of interest out of mainland China but also out of South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan.

"It feels a bit like the old days where there is very good representation and a strong presence of Australian wine and a strong interest in Australian wine. So that all goes well for our export markets. Fingers crossed. We await the orders.”