Shedding old skins: Australian wine is getting a snaky makeover for Lunar New Year

For more than a billion people around the globe, this Tuesday evening is a date that has been marked in the calendar several months in advance. Celebrating the new lunar year is often a lively multi-generational family affair: tables will strain under the weight of meats and seafood; youngsters will receive red pockets full of cash; and on the table will invariably be rice wine, red wine or baijiu, the popular Chinese liquor.

Lunar New Year has been described as the largest annual human migration in the world – a record 9 billion trips are expected to take place this year as people return home from work or study to reunite with their families.

Travellers at Hongqiao railway station in Shanghai ahead of this year’s Lunar New Year celebrations.Credit: Qilai Shen, Bloomberg

For Australian wine producers, still recovering from the crippling effects of China’s tariffs, getting onto the dining table during this window – as important as Christmas to others – is an unmissable opportunity.

“We’ve been getting ready,” says third-generation winemaker and Taylors Wines managing director Mitchell Taylor. “It is a big festive period. It can represent nearly 60 per cent of your annual sales all around this incredible weekend.”

Taylors Wines managing director and third generation winemaker Mitchell Taylor is hoping to recapture the Chinese market.

Since Beijing removed the punitive import duties in late March last year, winemakers have been keenly aware they are operating in a very different market. French and Chilean wines have rushed in to fill the void. Chinese consumers have also become more discerning and are developing a taste for white wine and lighter varieties over the heavy reds that once dominated China’s market. The country’s most popular brand of baijiu, Maotai – often referred to as the national drink – has become even more popular.

2025 marks the first year since the tariffs that winemakers have been able to capitalise on the holiday unimpeded. In the first two months after tariffs were lifted, wine exports to China totalled $228 million, almost four times the combined value of exports from 2021 to 2023.

“We’ve really got to build, reconnect with our relationships, and then give time for our products to come in and take market share from the others,” said Taylor.

Taylors Wines is among a handful of manufacturers that have released products centring on the Chinese animal zodiac ushering in the new lunar year. 2025 is the Year of the Snake, symbolising wealth, wisdom and rebirth.

The snake-emblazoned beverages may appear to be a straightforward marketing exercise, but some winemakers and other alcohol producers see it as a worthwhile investment to reconnect with business partners and distributors, catch the eye of Chinese consumers and position their product as a centrepiece of dinner tables and Lunar New Year festivities.

DMG Fine Wines founder William Dong believes finding fresh ways to impress customers is a competitive edge which should be basic to any business that takes itself seriously.

“It’s a talking point. People buy a bottle, put it on the table. The story wants to be shared, and you want to be able to talk about it,” he said.

William Dong, CEO and founder of DMG Fine Wines which owns Handpicked Wines and House of Arras.Credit: Louie Douvis

“We cannot stand still and be complacent – we have to be more innovative, more creative. Consumers want more, so we have to prepare more even before they ask for it.”

‘Important to get it right’

Launching these products specific to Lunar New Year is a process that begins a year ahead in advance. Taylors Wines’ St Andrews shiraz and cabernet sauvignon are presented in a red gift box that opens up from the middle, like a cabinet presenting a bottle of wine. Most products aimed at Chinese consumers will invariably feature the colour red, which in many Asian cultures is considered auspicious, good for health and vitality.

Taylor estimates some $100,000 has been spent on the packaging. The price of the bottle ($75) has not been raised to cover this expense, but the spike in demand during this period means the sheer volume of stock sold more than covers the additional cost. It isn’t the family wine business’ first crack at zodiac-themed products; last year was the first experiment, with some bottles featuring neck tags that made reference to the occasion.

Winemakers are releasing Chinese zodiac-themed products to capitalise on Lunar New Year spending.

“We got really serious about it this year, particularly because of the re-entry [into China] and getting back in the market,” he said. “It’s a very evolving, competitive landscape that we’re in. It’s very important to get it right.”

Hiking the price on limited edition products is a lever that can be pulled, but must be thought through. DMG Fine Wines’ Dong has ordered 50,000 boxes designed to mark the Year of the Snake at about $3 per box.

More than a fortnight out from Lunar New Year, Dong says duty-free sales have already doubled. In the week leading up to the new year, he expects sales to triple. To stand out even further in an increasingly saturated market, DMG hopes to lean on home delivery for those shopping duty free at international airports, which it introduced 10 years ago.

It’s a tight race for a relatively small window. Shortly after lunar new year passes on Wednesday, the novelty of Year of the Snake products will dwindle. “You almost do want it to run out,” said Taylor. “You don’t want to be waiting another 12 years.”

Not just winemakers cashing in

Winemakers are far from the only alcohol producers hoping to win over Chinese drinkers. After picking up traction through the lucrative duty-free shopping floors in domestic and international airports over the past few years, South Australian-based spirits maker 23rd Distillery launched a Year of the Dragon whisky last year that didn’t quite hit the mark at first.

23rd Street Distillery’s Year of the Snake whisky retails for $225, nearly double its typical single malt whisky at $120.

“In the first iteration, we did probably didn’t invest enough in packaging, and the real feedback was that we needed to justify the price point and meet the needs of the consumer,” said Chris Illman, group marketing manager at Bickfords Group, which operates 23rd Distillery and rum distillery Beenleigh.

“They’re looking for beautiful packaging, they’re looking for heavy glass, they’re looking for gift boxes.”

China’s growing middle class are deepening their whisky and rum palates as younger affluent Chinese consumers expect a premium drinking experience, added Illman. “There’s no reason why in Australia Chinese New Year doesn’t rival traditional Christmas, traditional Easter as a gift-giving occasion.”

Not many other local spirits producers have leaned into this market this way, and Illman says being an early mover has also helped the Australian beverages group stand out on an international platform. Last year, at the world’s biggest trade show of duty-free products in Cannes, showcasing Beenleigh and 23rd Distillery’s Year of the Snake products gave prospective buyers a reason to pause and helped in clinching new business.

The snake-decorated whisky will go for $225 a bottle (a typical bottle of whisky retails for $90), while the rum will sell for $150 (compared to $65).

Unlike Taylors Wines and DMG Fine Wines, which have not altered the product itself in its Year of the Snake offerings, there is more to the price than the packaging; its whisky has been aged in 15-year-old tawny casks. Labels are applied by hand, rather than by machine.

Of 3600 bottles of the limited edition whisky, all but around 400 bottles have been sold, with a similar volume of rum sold.

Planning has already begun for 2026, which will usher in the year of the horse, Taylor, Dong and Illman said.

Next year promises to be even bigger. “Only a handful of wine manufacturers are doing this. We’ve got a rich vein of opportunity where we have first mover rights,” said Illman.

“We’ll absolutely be doubling down for 2026.”

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