Coonawarra wine region bounces back from China trade war, coronavirus restrictions with online store
First came a terrible vintage, then a pandemic and an international trade war. Find out how these winemakers are defying the odds together.
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After a horror period for the Coonawarra wine region, getting its product direct to the consumer has never been more crucial.
The local industry has endured an unprecedented run of bad fortune, starting with a terrible vintage down 40-50 per cent on average yield, followed by coronavirus-enforced cellar door closures and now China threatening to shut the doors to its prized cabernet sauvignon.
With many wineries relying on the export market, Luke Tocaciu, director and winemaker at Patrick of Coonawarra said a fresh “direct to consumer” approach was the way of the future.
“It is very important in these very challenging times,” Mr Tocaciu said.
“In the last six months, our direct to consumer market has been keeping a lot of wineries afloat with all the restaurants and cafes being shut and now with the latest announcements in China it is more necessary to have that alternate market.
“China loves cabernet and Coonawarra is very highly regarded in China, so there’s a lot of wineries here who do export quite a significant percentage of wine to China. So, it’s pretty devastating.”
But the Coonawarra is adapting to its new normal.
Twenty-two local producers have collaborated to create an online shop where Australians can buy mixed wine packs that celebrate the region, directly from the producers and delivered to their door.
Mr Tocaciu said the initiative was a way to taste test a range of the region’s wine and showcases varietals often only discovered when visiting the vineyards.
“We’re stronger as a region than we are individually, we saw this as a great opportunity to collaborate with other wineries from Coonawarra and go out to people directly as a collaborative region,” he said.
“We’re always known for cabernet and I think it is only when people come here they get to taste the different varieties that we do,” he said.
“Our shiraz has always been strong here but also our white wines. We’re a cool climate region and our whites are quite delicate and can be very good, however, they get sometimes overshadowed by the big red cabernet category.”
With the Coonawarra Roadshow sidelined for 2020, Emma Raidis, owner of Raidis Estate was excited to see the collaboration come to fruition.
“When you’re not visiting it’s really hard to buy individual bottles from each winery. It’s a really good opportunity to give them a bit of a taste of Coonawarra while we can’t get to them and they can’t get to us,” Mrs Raidis said.
“They’re not missing out, and they get to trial the new vintages.”
In a region typically dominated by Victorian visitors, Mrs Raidis said she was blown away by the support the wineries had received despite having around 60 per cent of its normal cellar door guests locked out by border closures.
“Our customers seemed willing and able to buy, maybe even more than they normally would just to make sure businesses like us stayed open,” she said.
“I’ve actually been quite touched with people throughout the whole country. People seem to be more aware of shopping locally and buying from businesses they want to see survive when COVID finishes.
“You’d expect visitation to be down however, we’ve actually not seen a drop off in numbers. South Australians, especially from Adelaide, are coming out in droves and really getting into the regions like they never had before, which is really heartening.”
And Mrs Raidis expects a flood of Victorian wine tasters as soon as the border closure lifts.