Peter Dixon & Penfolds Chief Winemaker Peter Gago. [Photo/China Daily]

On Jan 6 it was announced that TWE was teaming up with the Chinese company COFCO to launch a new range of the Australian company's products Penfolds Max's in China.

Dixon says: "It enables a strong penetration of our wines across China via COFCO's direct retail outlets and their network of retail wine partners across not only first-tier but second- and third-tier cities, which are important markets with strong growth potential."

Penfolds, founded in Adelaide in 1844, has some highly reputed wines to its name, including the Grange and Bin series.

Lv Xianxun, general manager of Oceanark, a wine and spirits consultancy in Beijing, says that one of the biggest problems with the Chinese foreign wine market is that there are few "big brands" or "best sellers" and most shoppers at a loss to know what constitutes a good-value buy. That means those willing to invest in building brands among these consumers stand to be richly rewarded, he says.

Brand building will be a major focus for TWE in China and the region this year, Dixon says.

"In addition to pricing, we find that Chinese wine consumers are looking for authenticity. That means not just the wines but also the wineries and brands producing the wines will be a deciding factor for what to choose."