De Spaanse wijn ziet er naar China

Deze nieuwe rijke middenklasse in China heeft gegrepen in de grote steden, wordt met terzijdestelling van zijn geliefde drank ('bai jiu', een soort van gedistilleerde rijst residu met een hoog alcoholgehalte van ten hoogste 60%), omdat zijn aficionando onze rood goud, onze rode wijn.

Red wine has a very strong position in the Chinese market and now accounts for 90%. Not that tastes are too refined, and that is still mixing a large reservoir with ice or soda. For them care more about quantity than quality.

Wine imports grew 15.1% in 2009 and 20.6% in 2010. With exports which tripled in 2011, reaching � 44 million, Spain was, after overtaking the United States in that year, as the fifth largest supplier of wine to China, very close to Italy (56) and Chile (49) . At the head stood France (509 million), with an overwhelming market share of 46%, followed by Australia (139), with 18%.

The other side of the coin is that much of the increase in Spanish exports was due to higher sales of wine in bulk, low value, which is then bottled and sold by Chinese companies. The mixture of bulk wine imported Chinese is a common practice. Due to the scarcity of arable land, about 6% of the wine world, and the Government's priorities in terms of grain self-sufficiency, local firms have no choice but to purchase increasing amounts of bulk wine.

To get into the Asian giant wine makers must consider the cultural preferences of Chinese consumers. There are several cultural factors that explain why red wine is the favorite in China. In China red symbolizes joy and strength while white is the color of death. Chinese consumers prefer red wine because it tastes better at room temperature, it is known that the Chinese do not like drinking cold drinks and usually opting for tea so much as by the local spirits.

The labeling must appeal to the roots, tradition and the Chinese. Manufacturers also have to be careful with the names to be translated phonetically as easily as the system of Chinese symbols. The Spanish wine labels are beginning to be written in Chinese characters.

In China, the image of Spanish wine is still very far from the French. France takes us years ahead in promotion and marketing French wines and play in another division. The great challenge of the Spanish wineries should be to improve the image of Spanish wine in the Asian countries and introduce the idea of quality to our competitors that already have French or Italian.