Chinese market attractive for winemakers: experts

ATHENS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese consumers appreciate good quality wines, including rose, which not long ago was considered inferior to red and white wine across the world, rose wine expert Ben Bernheim told Xinhua during a recent wine exhibition here.

Rose wine sales are still low compared to red wine, which is traditionally the first choice of Chinese consumers, but the trend is clear, the expert said, adding that Rose wins over wine lovers in increasing numbers worldwide.

"We've heard producers who make really good, very expensive, premium wines, who find that consumers in China appreciate the quality and effort they put into their wines," Bernheim said during the "Drink Pink 2023" event on Sunday.

The rose market has been steadily growing in China as well, Master of Wine Elizabeth Gabay, who specializes in rose, said.

As Greek winemakers follow the trend and have added more rose than ever in their production lately, eyeing the Chinese market as well, Gabay advised them to keep their identity after tasting a few of the approximately 200 rose wines from Greece and across the world offered to visitors during the event.

Rose is no longer a seasonal wine to be consumed in the summertime, replacing red wine. People consume more rose all year round and due to climate change its future seems bright, according to Bernheim.

Rose wine has already overtaken white wine in France and "it's only a matter of time before it overtakes white wine around the world for some categories" as sales are booming, he added.

In the past 20 years, rose wine consumption worldwide has increased by 25 percent and in the past six years the average price of a bottle of rose wine has risen by 30 percent, according to the inter-professional organization of wines of Provence.