The Australian and New Zealand wine industries were thinly represented at the past two VINEXPO Asia-Pacific shows, but the Aussies and the Kiwis are back in force this year. Nearly 50 firms are coming from Australasia, with the opportunity for buyers to sample hundreds of wines, including many of the southern hemisphere's top labels. Making its debut is Treasury Wine Estates, a company created in May last year, when the wine division of the Fosters Group was demerged from the brewing side of the corporation. Treasury Wine Estates' portfolio of more than 50 brands includes wines from California, New Zealand, Italy, Argentina, Chile, and South Africa, but perhaps most notably some of the most famous labels in Australia, extending from the iconic Penfolds Grange to modestly priced table wines. Brands include Penfolds, Lindeman's, Wolf Blass, Rosemount Estate, Rothbury Estate, Saltram, Coldstream Hills, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Yellowglen, and Yarra Ridge, and Matua Valley from New Zealand. Treasury Wine Estates will host 11 master classes throughout the course of the show, designed to highlight the diversity of its New World portfolio as a whole, but with a particular emphasis on Australia. 'We look forward to spending time with our customers and wine professionals in our tasting room to discover Treasury's portfolio through a diverse range of tutored tastings,' says Anthony Davie, Treasury Wine Estates managing director for Asia. The master-class wines include a Penfolds 1987 Grange; the 2008 Penfolds Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon; a 1990 Wynns Michael Shiraz; and the Napa Valley Beringer 2009 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the company's Californian portfolio. Among the winemakers attending will be Penfolds' wine ambassador Jamie Sach, Chris Hatcher of Wolf Blass, Wynns Coonawarra's Sue Hodder, Trina Smith, the senior sparkling winemaker for Yellowglen, and Nikolai St George of Matua. Many other significant names from Australia and New Zealand are also participating. They include Australia's Angoves, Brown Brothers, D'Arenberg, De Bortoli, Kaesler, Katnook Estate, Two Hands Wines and Wirra Vineyards. Wine Australia, the Australian government statutory authority established in 1981 to provide strategic support to the Australian wine sector, is also an exhibitor. The first-ever New Zealand Wine Pavilion will feature 20 wineries pouring 120 wines from the country's leading wine-growing regions. New Zealand brands participating include Ara Wines, Babich Wines, Coopers Creek, Greystone Wines, Mission Estate and Villa Maria. New Zealand Winegrowers' March 2012 export statistics show a 53 per cent growth in New Zealand wine exports to the mainland in the past 12 months, with exports to Hong Kong growing 16 per cent.
