And then disaster struck. In April 2020, during the early stages of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Scott Morrison, who was Australia’s prime minister at the time, called for an investigation into the illness’s origin. Beijing considered this an insult, and in November 2020 the country struck back with a retaliatory tax on wine imports from Australia, causing what had become the country’s largest export market to dry up overnight. Currently, the duties are between 116.2 percent and 218.
According to Deirdre Cook, Wine Australia’s marketing manager in the United States, Australia exported 121 million liters of wine valued at AU $1.3 billion to mainland China in the year ending October 2020, before the tariffs were put in place. Most of that was higher value red wines. In the year ending December 2022, this had dropped by a startling 99 percent in value to AUD $12.4 million and 98 percent in volume to only three million liters.
Torbreck, a Barossa winery whose offerings in the U.S. include their ancient vine Runrig red blend, which retails for $225, exports to more than 45 countries worldwide. When the Chinese market completely dropped out, the winery was able to “reallocate wine and resources from China to those markets without great effect on our bottom line,” according to Andrew Tierney, Torbreck’s export director, who added, “our U.S. business jumped 27 percent from 2020 to 2022.
Hentley Farm, an Australian brand that produces Clos Otto Shiraz, available stateside for $200, in addition to more accessible bottles, is just getting established in the United States thanks to participation in Wine Australia’s Market Entry program, a business matching program for wineries looking to enter the U.S. market.
In addition to a large concentration of high-end reds and a handful of sweet, fortified wines in the market, you can expect to see more premium sparkling wine from cool-climate Tasmania, such as House of Arras Brut Elite and House of Arras Grand Vintage, which retail in the States for $50 and $130.