(Wines&Vines) - The keys to selling wine in China can be summed up in a couple of simple phrases, according to a market researcher supervising a multiple-year study of consumer attitudes and buying habits there: “mental availability” and “physical availability.”

Vintners who give their wines both of these things can succeed in sales with a growing demographic segment of grape wine drinkers in the People’s Republic of China, according to Dr. Justin Cohen, senior research associate at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.

Cohen was one of several speakers tapped by organizers of the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair to speak Nov. 5 and help educate the hundreds of wine producers and up to 20,000 trade members who attended. The fair’s objective was to bring together sellers from around the world and buyers from the Asian wine market to build a bigger wine business.

From the elite to the masses
Cohen’s message to the sellers was to keep it simple, since China in particular is still a new territory for consumption of international wine types—even though the Chinese have a long history of drinking indigenous wines.

“We’re seeing a country develop as fast in a few decades as it took other countries centuries to do,” he said. One effect of that growth was that imported wine became a symbol of prosperity, and it was bought often for gift giving among business executives and government officials and to pour at lavish banquets.

That practice became excessive and corrupt by 2012 in the view of the national government, which called for austerity measures. Sales of high-priced wines dropped dramatically. While that drop discouraged wine traders, Cohen said it’s not a bad thing in the long term.

“Wine had been seen as something only for the elite, but that is changing now, ” he said. The focus has turned to the average consumer—including the younger generation, which now has disposable income and a small but growing interest in wine, he said.

Consumer study
Cohen’s organization is part of the University of South Australia, and the Australian Grape and Wine Authority sponsored the research. It spanned three years and involved 5,000 consumers in nine Chinese cities. The consumers studied were ages 18-50 and already drinkers of imported wines.

One finding was that 90% of the participants knew that France made wine, while only 66% knew that Australia did. Bordeaux as a wine region had 85% awareness, and China’s Ningxia region had 83%, while Napa Valley and Barossa Valley were far behind with just 48% consumer awareness. Cabernet Sauvignon had 72% recognition, but Merlot only 46% and Shiraz just 28%.
Considering that the names of major wine-producing countries and major international varietals are not well known by Chinese consumers, Cohen said, “Most brands don’t stand a chance of being known.” His advice was to forget about bringing in lesser-known wine types, varietals and regions, and instead figure out how to get into the minds of Chinese wine consumers.