Sirromet Winery’s Olympic plan as China poised to slash import tariff

Queensland’s largest boutique wine producer has welcomed China’s plan to review its 212 per cent wine import tariff but says it will now focus on the domestic market and the 2032 Olympics.

Sirromet Winery is gearing up for the Olympics with new luxury accommodation despite an expected uptick in wine exports to China if a massive 212 per cent tariff is relaxed. Pictures: Contributed

Queensland’s largest boutique wine producer has welcomed China’s promise to review its massive 212 per cent wine import tariff, signing a multimillion-dollar deal with a leading Chinese wine importer.

Sirromet Winery, at Mount Cotton, signed a three-stage memorandum of understanding, potentially worth $9.7 million, with Sichuan Pan-Asia Investment and Development Group.

The deal was struck ahead of next month’s groundbreaking trade talks in Beijing when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will discuss scrapping the tariff on Australian wine with China’s President Xi Jinping.

But southeast Queensland wine drinkers will still get to sip some of the best tipples the state has to offer despite the pending uptick in Sino export trade.

Chinese customers shop for wine imported from Australia at a supermarket in Xuchang city, central China's Henan province. Chinese buyers have developed a taste for more than just Australian stock of residential property and farmland, there's a renewed thirst for Australian wine and a 212 per cent tariff is poised to be relaxed. Picture: Reuters/AAP

Sirromet Winery chief executive Risko Isic welcomed the tariff review but said the picturesque winery, known for its Day on the Green concerts, had changed tactics during the China standoff and was now focusing on the domestic market.

“We don’t want to go into those transactional business deals with China anymore,” he said.

“We will still have our partners in China — but we will not be growing just to export to China.

“Our focus is now the domestic market especially in the lead up to the 2032 Olympics.

“All our quality wines used to go overseas but we don’t do that anymore and we have restricted how much of our wines now go overseas.

“It would take us about six years to ramp up back to the pre-Covid China export levels of production.

“There is huge demand in China for our wine but we are not operating at the pre-Covid capacity at the moment to fulfil that demand.

“When China reopens it will take us about two to three years to be back at the previous production levels.”

Sirromet Winery chief executive Risko Isic said the business had signed multimillion-dollar deals with major Chinese wine importers. Picture: Sirromet Winery

Sirromet, which this year crushed about 220 tonnes of grapes, scaled back production during Covid and currently has about 25 per cent of its vineyards in production.

However, the winery kept its China-based warehouses, partners and staff throughout the trade stoush.

Under the three-stage memorandum of understanding with the Chinese partners, Sirromet will ultimately ship 15 containers of wine a year to China.

Mr Isic said that equated to approximately 180,000 bottles of wine annually, potentially valued at about $10 million.

Sirromet Winery at Mount Cotton plans to build an additional 32 luxury cabins in ready for the 2032 Olympics. Picture: Sirromet Winery

As part of its new tourism “experience” focus, the winery has also stepped up packages with tourism operators from southeast Asia after Covid visa restrictions were finally lifted in September.

The winery is also looking to enhance its accommodation capacity and build an extra 32 luxury pavilions with the expectation that Redland will play a major role at the 2032 Olympics.

The popular winery was caught in the trade wrangle in 2020 when the Asian behemoth instigated the excise duties ranging from 107.1 per cent to 212.1 per cent.

The trade stoush followed an investigation into claims Aussie wine producers were dumping wine at bargain basement prices on the world market.