No quick workarounds for Chinese wine tariffs: Riverina Winemakers

Riverina Winemakers president Andrew Calabria said the tariffs weren't unexpected following months of deliberations between industry and trade representatives.

Mr Calabria said the impact of the tariffs would ripple through the supply chain, from winemakers to their suppliers including bottles, growers and logistics.

"You don't have to sell to China directly for this to be a risk," he said.

A number of winemakers have begun to receive shipments of wine back, while other shipments were sitting in warehouses. Finding new opportunities wasn't as simple as changing address labels however.

"Finding new markets takes time, in building relationships and bringing the product to taste," Mr Calabria said.

"But it relies on international travel, without travel it's extremely difficult to build new markets."

With a loss of confidence among businesses and economies taking a hit thanks to the pandemic, Mr Calabria said the appetite for hospitality businesses to take on a new suppliers or new brand had reduced.

Many consumers had also switched to brands and products they were already familiar with.

"We're facing difficult times, we'll have to dig deeper and work harder," Mr Calabria said.

"It's not to say it's all doom and gloom, there will be wins."

Mr Calabria said winemakers had to focus on brand Australia and the reasons why Australian wine was popular had to be continued.

"We can't stop investing in things that made us great," he said.

"Without each other we don't exist, we need to work together as an industry, focusing on our relationships and our quality."

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Riverina Winegrape Growers president Bruno Brombal said it would take time to work out what the full impact of the Chinese tariffs would be.

Mr Brombal said if the rest of the world took up Australia wine, he didn't foresee there being much of a worry.

He said white wine varities wouldn't see much of an impact, and so far many of the wineries in the region had been chasing fruit following last year's slightly smaller crop.

"Every winery we speak to is chasing fruit this year, so I don't see a major problem," Mr Brombal said.

However, he said there was plenty which could change between now and harvest.