Saint Clair Family Estate winemaker Kyle Thompson, pictured left, recently returned from an intensive nine-day tour of China and South Korea, joining importers and distributors Aussino China as they celebrated 30 years in business.
The anniversary made the perfect time to showcase some of what Marlborough has to offer. Over seven days, Kyle travelled to eight cities alongside the Aussino team, sharing the breadth of the Saint Clair range through presentations and a run of dinners for Aussino's high-end customers.
"China's a fantastic place - it's an enormous country, exciting, vibrant and high tech, with some very educated wine consumers," Kyle says."It was a whirlwind tour, and really we only touched the surface of what's possible."
The depth of consumer knowledge is driving a noticeable shift in the market, Kyle says. Where Chinese wine drinking has traditionally centred on reds, Kyle observed a widening of tastes, with New Zealand cool climate whites steadily gaining ground.
From China, Kyle continued on to Seoul for two days with Saint Clair's South Korean importer, Shinsegae. The format was much the same in South Korea, featuring presentations and staff education sessions, with plenty of opportunity to see how the wines perform on the ground.
"Seoul is such a busy city, with great food," he says. "Our wine works incredibly well with Korean cuisine."
Both markets underline the growing appetite across Asia for Marlborough's cool climate style. Kyle was able to share both our wines and our story with each market, and came back with many insights of his own.
