China success ‘won’t happen overnight’, says Wines of Argentina

Argentina’s winemakers are hopeful of capitalising on greater economic co-operation between their country and China, but trade leaders believe it will take tame to build trust with consumers.

Chinese president Xi Jinping’s state visit to Argentina earlier this month saw him introduced to range of food and drink, including olive oil and wine.

While no specific agreement was signed in relation to the wine business, trade body Wines of Argentina believes opportunities lie head.

Xi Jinping’s two-day visit saw the signing of several strategic agreements at state level, including an ‘economic and investment co-operative agreement’ and a ‘bilateral currency swap agreement’. A closer trade relationship with China may aid Argentina’s fragile economy, which could ease cost pressures on Argentine winemakers in the short-term but also pave the way for better market access to Chinese consumers over the longer-term.

‘There are media reports of very positive co-operation between China and Argentina,’ said Andrew Maidment, Wines of Argentina’s representative in China. ‘We have already seen the impact of [Xi’s visit] with various articles on the growth of Argentine wines in China in publications such as China Daily.’

Argentina was China’s seventh biggest source of bottled wine imports in 2013. Imports of Argentine wine totalled nearly 4.48m litres, with an estimated value of $22.45m, according to Chinese customs figures. In comparison, the US exports 12.68m litres to China annually, and France exports 128.73m litres.

Maidment told DecanterChina.com that Argentina’s position in the middle of the price spectrum in China is advantageous given the well-documented fall in imports of high-end wines over the past 18 months.

‘With a very strong price/quality ratio, I think that we are well placed in China as wine becomes enjoyed more and more as an everyday beverage,’ Maidment said. He said Malbec enjoyed strong growth in the first half of 2014. Malbec is Argentina’s signature grape, but the country’s Cabernet Sauvignon and blended wines had proved more popular with Chinese importers before this year, according to a recent report by the US Government’s Foreign Agricultural Service.

Maidment said it’s still early days in a big market and success ‘won’t happen overnight. We are positioning ourselves for the long term and not viewing China as the source of a quick buck.’ An Argentine Wine School has been set up in China to train and educate local trade and consumers, and it is now seeking to help ‘interesting, small and medium-sized producers to enter the Chinese market’, Maidment added.