The trend towards austerity and sobriety of customs inaugurated by China on the occasion of the lunar new year has dealt a severe blow to Australian wine producers, for whom the Asian giant had represented the classic goose that laid the golden eggs in the last two years . Since 2012, in fact, the Chinese had shown a growing attraction for Australian wine, to the detriment of traditional markets such as the United States. However, this promising evolution has suffered a setback following the recently launched austerity program, together with anti-corruption measures, by the Chinese government. The new emphasis on moderation, which has emptied the glasses of lovers of good wine, has targeted all luxury goods, from Ferraris to foreign wine, passing through high fashion. A large number of Australian wineries have staked a lot, if not all, on the Chinese market, at a time when traditional markets are in sharp decline and the strong national currency does not favor exports. Naturally, the problem does not only concern Australia, but also other major wine exporting countries in China, first of all France.
French group Pernod Ricard, whose Jacob's Creek brand is a favorite of Chinese consumers, has issued a grim forecast that demand for alcohol in China will remain sluggish – if not decline further – at least until well into 2015. It is an estimate fully shared by the major Australian wine producing companies. “We keep getting reports of whole stocks of goods sitting unsold in Chinese warehouses,” says Mitchell Taylor, director of management at Taylors in the Clare Valley. In turn, Bruce Tyrrell, a fourth-generation winemaker from a Hunter Valley family, notes that the new government regulations have hit a key segment of the Chinese market for alcohol consumption hard: the exchange of corporate gifts. This is the so-called "grey market", where large companies – or even particularly wealthy individuals – order their own container of Australian wines to make them luxury gifts. But Mr. Tyrell has his own optimistic view of the situation: the Chinese - he says - have now become accustomed to certain standards of living and will eventually find a way to return to Australian wineries despite Beijing's bans. "The Chinese" he concludes "are like the Australians: block their way with a law and they will find a way around it". He sentence is undeniably true even in our latitudes.
