Yarra wines for China

By Dion Teasdale
A YARRA Valley winery is about to embark on a multi-million dollar international distribution deal that will see its wines consumed in China.
Ainsworth Estate in Seville has spent the past few months researching, planning and negotiating with a Shanghai-based wine distribution network and has finally reached an agreement.
The agreement will see up to 16,000 cases of wine exported to China on a quarterly basis and distributed across the country through a network of more than 100 wine and spirit distributors.
Ainsworth Estate managing director, Denis Craig, said he was delighted to have secured the distribution deal, estimated to be worth around $2 million a year, describing it as a bold new enterprise.
“Doing business in China has been a little daunting at times, but we’ve done all the ground work and this is an exciting new chapter for our business,” he said.
Mr Craig returned to China last week to attend a wine network conference, taking 5,100 cases of red wine with him to kick the deal off.
“We expect to export around 50,000 cases of wine in the first 12 month and hope to double this in the second year of the deal,” he said.
Mr Craig said the deal would bring real economic benefits to the Yarra Valley with Ainsworth Estate planning to employ three full time workers to manage the export program.
He said the winery was also considering an expansion of its facilities.
Mr Craig said the China wine deal was the largest project Ainsworth Estate had embarked upon since starting operation in 1993.
The winery was first established in Chum Creek and moved to a 20-acre property in Seville in 2000, where it grows shiraz, pinot and chardonnay grapes.