California targets China's young professionals

(Decanter) - California wineries are looking to make up for lost time in China by targeting young professionals who are serious about their wine but willing to branch out from an older generation that has eyes only for France.

The US sunshine state believes so-called 'young millenials' will be key to its success with wine in China. 'We need to connect with that generation,' Linsey Gallagher, vice president of international marketing at the California-based Wine Institute, told decanter.com.

'A lot of them don't know that California is the fourth largest wine producer in the world,' she said, speaking at the ProWine trade show in Shanghai. While France still has an unmatched prestige for many in China, several younger wine drinkers and professionals have told decanter.com of their generation's desire to experiment further afield, and especially in the New World.

Next year, more tourists from China are forecast to visit California than from any other country, according to Gallagher.

Exports of US wine to China rose by 18% in 2012, to US$74m, and California accounts for around 90% of US wine exports to most major markets.

That is still some way behind the largest markets, the European Union and Canada, which accounted for just over $900m-worth of US wine exports combined in the same year.

Many representing California at ProWine believe it is a long game in China. 'France has been here 20 years, but we've only come to the market recently,' said Diane Long, executive director of the California-China Office of Trade and Investment.

Like others at the show, she spoke of the need to drain current excess stocks of wine in the Chinese market in the short-term. The country is facing a 'hardening of the arteries' as wine orders from government officials have weakened.