Seppeltsfield has clinched a deal to export 1.5 million litres of premium wines a year to China

BAROSSA Valley winemaker Seppeltsfield has clinched a deal to export 1.5 million litres of premium wines a year to China.

Supplied Editorial Seppeltsfield owner Warren Randall, South Australian Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell and Oz-Sin

BAROSSA Valley winemaker Seppeltsfield has clinched a dealto export 1.5 million litres of premium wine to China each year.

The agreement will triple Seppeltsfield’s sales to China and spearheads a range of partnerships being forged on South Australia’s trade mission to sister province Shandong.

“It’s fantastic,” Seppeltsfield owner Warren Randall said.

“It will be premium South Australian wine sent across in bulk and bottled in China.”

Buyer Nanshan is China’s largest private winemaker and distributes across the country.

The wine will come principally from the Barossa but also McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek. It will be on top of the 888,000 litres a year Seppeltsfield now exports to China.

Seppeltsfield and its China subsidiary , Oz-Sino International Wine, worked on the deal for a year and hosted eight delegations to its vineyards.

Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell said it proved what could be done if an SA business had a quality product and the right partner in China.

“There’ll be more after this,” he said.

Mr Randall said he was negotiating with government-owned Great Wall, the overall biggest winemaker in China.

China has come from nowhere to be one of the most important markets for Australian wine, buying $242 million of it in the year to March.

The Australian Grape and Wine Authority told a Senate Estimates hearing yesterday that Chinese demand for Australian premium wines was growing significantly, making it our third biggest market.

Mr Randall said SA was in a sweet spot to cash in on the surging Chinese wine market.