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MARKETING have grown more than 14 times in the past five years. If such growth continues, he said, China might be importing 28 million cases by the end of the year. The bad news, at least so far, is that North American wineries have been reaping few of the benefits from this demand. Forty- five percent of the imported wine in China comes from France, with Australia, Italy and Spain taking the second, third and fourth seats, respectively. In 2010, Adams estimated that China imported just over 1 million cases of wine from the United States, or 6% of the total wine imported; Canadian imports of 44,226 cases represented 0.2% of China's total wine imports during the same year. Andrews assessed per capita wine consumption in China at just over one bottle per year. The volume sounds small initially— by contrast, in 2010 the Wine Institute pegged U.S. wine con- sumption at 13 bottles per capita—but when you consider that China is a nation of 1.3 billion people, one bottle per person adds up to a whole lot of wine—108 million cases, to be exact— and that figure is growing. ia Strength in numbers Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine & Grape Founda- tion (NYWGF), hosted the Uncork New York booth to promote his state's wineries at the Hong Kong fair. After extending an open invitation for New York winer- ies to have their wares poured at the fourth annual event, Trezise said about 30 wineries (most of them in the 10,000-30,000- case range) had bottles delivered to the NYWGF offices, and the response to them in Hong Kong was positive. CHINA Mongolia Beijing CHINA Shanghai Myanmar Hong Kong N. Korea S. Korea Russia "We have an advantage in that New York is recognized around the world, but people think only of the city, so being able to present them with good wines is a fun surprise," Trezise told Wines & Vines. His trip was made possible by funding from the USDA's Mar- ket Access Program (MAP), which finances U.S. producers and trade organizations in their efforts to promote U.S. agricultural products. According to the USDA, "MAP encourages the de- velopment, maintenance and expansion of commercial export markets for agricultural commodities." Put more simply, Trezise said, "Without MAP, we simply would not have an export program at all." The day before the fair started, he added, staffers from the local USDA office provided a briefing for U.S. participants about doing business in Asia. Jahan Byrne, a marketing and business development executive for the Port of Oakland (Calif.), had a similar idea for winery representation on a commercial scale. Since many Northern California wines ship wines out of his port, Byrne solicited area wineries interested in entering Far East markets and offered to represent their wines at the event in Hong Kong, where he previously worked as a news reporter. A handful of California Chinese Wine Facts • Approximately 400 million people in China regularly drink wine, more than 30% of the country's total population. • In a survey about their habits, 39% of China's regular wine drinkers said they were most likely to drink wine at celebrations. • Red wine still accounts for 80%-90% of the country's total wine consumption; according to Chinese tradition, the color red is lucky. Source: David Andrews, ASC Fine Wines Trading Corp. Solms-Delta wine estate wineries answered his call, and Byrne represented their selections at the Wines of California tasting area alongside firms such as wholesaler/export agent Crosbie Co., importer and distributor Drunken Dragon and wineries such as JC Cellars of Oakland and San Joaquin Wine Co. of Madera. Small fish, big pond Due to China's enormous population, only the very largest North American wineries could hope to have a large presence across the country. For the rest, finding the right niche is key. "As far as we can tell, China is looking for large volumes of very inexpensive wines, which we (in New York) simply don't have," said Trezise of the NYWGF. "New York is essentially a small winery industry that makes good quality wines.…The only real possibility that I see, in all of these countries including China, is for some New York wines to be featured in high-end restaurants and the better wine shops." Marc Mousseau of Vineland, Ontario-based Stoney Ridge Estate Winery agrees. Stoney Ridge set up a booth at the Hong Kong Wine & Spirits Fair to gauge the interest locals had in distributing ice wines around Hong Kong, mainland China and Vietnam. Representation in any of these areas would be a first for Stoney Ridge, which currently only sells inside Ontario. "Inter-province regulations are so strict that it's easier to penetrate China than other areas in Canada," Mousseau said. "Very few could afford to come (on an exploratory trip) except the big guys.…It's an investment to get here, but I think it's a long-term investment." Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2012 81 SHIzHAO