Feature: Greek wineries eyeing China's growing market

ATHENS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Greece's wine industry has made great strides in recent years, gaining recognition worldwide. China is one of the markets which Greek winemakers now aim to conquer, experts told Xinhua recently in Athens.

Some 250 wineries from all regions of Greece presented about 3,000 wines of all types at "Oenorama 2022," the largest exhibition of Greek wines in the world, which took place here between March 12 and March 14.

After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition returned, offering visitors a chance to taste the 2019, 2020 and 2021 vintages.

Since 1994, the launch date of this annual event, Oenorama's General Manager Constantine Stergidis has witnessed the remarkable progress of the Greek wine industry, which he described as "very dynamic."

"We have many new wineries, small ones that are opening, which is good, because this creates a critical mass for Greek wine and Greece's wine industry abroad," he said.

"We are starting to make more progress in viticulture, which is very important for the final product," he added.

In recent years, Greek wines have won quite a few international awards, and they are becoming increasingly popular in demanding markets such as France. The past five years have seen a steady increase in the average price of a bottle of Greek wine, which proves this point, Yannis Voyatzis, former president of the National Inter-Professional Organization of Vine and Wine (EDOAO), told the Greek daily Kathimerini recently.

During the years of the Greek debt crisis, the country invested in its wineries, doubling their number from 635 to 1,295.

Between the northern parts of the country and the Island of Crete in the south, the authorities list 120 Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs) and over 30 Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) for Greek wines.

Enterprise Greece, the country's official trade and investment promotion agency, has recently released an analysis based on Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) figures, according to which the total value of Greece's wine exports was 72.05 million euros (79.4 million U.S. dollars) in 2020 and 84.83 million euros in 2021.

Based on 2020 data, Germany with 37.68 percent was the top export market for Greek wine, followed by the U.S., Canada and France.

Although China imported 0.59 percent of Greece's wine output in 2020, the International Trade Center's (ITC) "Export Potential Map Greece" shows that the country is a promising target for Greek exporters.

"It is potentially an important market, because I think that the Chinese are very well-versed in the history of Greece and wine is part of our history. Many of our vineyards are in areas of archaeological interest or are tourist destinations, like Santorini," Stergidis said.

"China is an extremely important market or potentially important market for wines of Greece. I think that as wine becomes more popular in China, then in just a few years' time, we will see Chinese drinkers getting closer to Greek wine," Master of Wine Konstantinos Lazarakis, told Xinhua.

Aris Tselepos is a second-generation vintner at Tselepos Wines, which since 2015 has established stable cooperation with its partners in China.

"In the last few years Greek wine has established itself in the world market and it is doing its next steps in the market of Asia as well," he told Xinhua.

"My experience has told me that it is a market with a huge growth the last few years. We export the products of all three of our wineries and we see a huge growth year after year, expecting to keep growing and keep strengthening this partnership," he said. (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollars)