Hawke's Bay winery Sileni Estates has secured a deal which will see its wines distributed nationwide in China.
Photo: Holger Detje
CEO Sir Graeme Avery said Sileni wine would be distributed through high-end supermarket chain Ole' and blt, owned by China Resources Vanguard.
Sir Graeme said the new business relationship was the culmination of four years of negotiations.
He said there was a lot of potential in the market.
"China is one of our...long term development markets. As in all of our other Asian markets it takes 10 or more years to start to get any sales traction and for China, wine is new to them. While they consume a lot of wine it's usually at ceremonial events," he said.
"We see 10 to 20 years before China, as it took Japan and it is taking Korea, to start to drink good quality wine regularly."