The western Victorian town of Ararat has become the focus of an innovative wine production and marketing effort aimed at the Chinese market, especially its sister city, Taishan. The only Victorian town founded by Chinese, Ararat receives between 10Ð15 Chinese government delegations each year.The Grampians-Pyrenees Wine Co-operative is a local government-business partnership including nine wineries from the Grampians and Pyrenees wine regions and the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT). Its first shipment of around 10,000 litres of its Ararat Gold Shiraz from 2008 is now en route to China.Blended by the talented local winemaking duo of Simon Clayfield and Michael Unwin at NMIT”s 300-tonne winery at Aradale, the wine was initially launched at Ararat’s Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre. Prior to the launch, the launch of the Co-operative itself was attended by Mr Shen Weilan, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China, who traveled to Ararat for the for the occasion.Ararat Gold was introduced in China at a tasting this June at the Taishan Phoenix Country Hotel, an event attended by around 200 wine retailers and resellers. A Taishan-based agent has since been appointed. Simon Clayfield looks forward to the release of the 2010 vintage next year, the first vintage specifically made for this imaginative project.
