Australia increased its stand space at Prowein by 30% this year, with some 46 exhibitors showing wines from 21 producing regions, aiming to build upon a renewed confidence rooted in growing global exports, including strong premium sales to Asia and growth in the US.
Speaking to Harpers at the show, Wine Australia's general manager for marketing, Stuart Barclay, highlighted the positive trend in exports, while outlining a push to assist wineries that are looking to get back into markets such as the UK.
"We are seeing a lot of growth in exports, with China up 66% alone last year, and growth returning in the US, with free-trade agreements with Japan and Korea last year delivering returns and the growth in China coming ahead of the free-trade agreement," said Barclay.
"We are also focusing on supporting wineries that want to get back into markets such as the UK, which is still a very important market for us, and there are still a lot of wineries that want to do business there," he continued.
Wine Australia's core marketing messages are centred on the themes of 'history, evolution and revolution', with regionality playing a key part in the promotion of its premium wines.
"Some markets get it, some don't, and it depends on the maturity of the market," said Barclay, "but the message of regionality is about communicating our diversity, and this has been a focus in the UK, at the ADT (Australia Day Tasting), the Italian varietals tasting and the upcoming Langton's Classification tasting, which show a new face of Australia."
Barclay spoke of the cyclical nature of the wine market, highlighting that stylistically Australian wine has changed a lot in the last 10 years, with a new restraint, new styles and varieties, plus greater emphasis on regionality and premium wines all coming into greater focus.
"Perception of Australia is changing again, with different regions coming to the fore," he said. "And ProWein is a great platform to show this because it is a global wine show and so a great opportunity to show what Australia now offers and to do business."