Twelve families visit Beijing for first hand look

The families of Australian wine gather at Capitol M restaurant overlooking Tian'anmen Square. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The rather grand sounding Australia's First Families of Wine were in China recently, stopping over in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to talk up Australian wine, in particular their own brands, including DeBortoli, Brown Brothers, Taylors, Tyrrell's Wines, Yalumba, Tahbilk, Henschke and d'Arenberg,

The 12 families represent 16 wine growing regions Down Under and have joined together to tell the story of Australian wine, in particular to emphasize that many wineries are family owned, not just businesses run by faceless millionaires.

The families have already completed tours of the United States and Europe and have high hopes for China. Aussie vintners hope that as the Chinese wine market matures, their wine will take a more prominent place on the table, as consumers start to buy for consumption and not just gifting.

At a dinner at Capital M (the flagship Beijing restaurant of another Australian, Michelle Garnaut) a representative from each of the families presented one of their wines, many branching off to speak about the culture and traditions of their wineries.

But this wasn't just about the stuff in the bottle.

Some of the delegates had used their trip to China to not only visit the sights themselves, but observe the habits and preferences of Chinese tourists who they are hoping to lure to their country.

Amy Burch of Burch family wines, whose labels include Howard Park and Madfish, is working on establishing a tasting center (with the help of a grant from Australian tourism authorities) in the Margaret River area with Mandarin speaking staff to lure more wine-loving Chinese tourists.