With the help of the provincial government, Ontario’s Pelee Island Winery has cracked open the Chinese market.
The award-winning winery will sell its wines and icewine through a Chinese chain store, called Maple Leaf Wines, located in Zhengzhou, the capital of China’s Henan province. Pelee Island Winery, which is located in Kingsville, Ont., has already shipped tens of thousands of its bottles to China.
“Ontario has a vibrant trade and business relationship with China and we are proud that China is promoting the Maple Leaf Wines store, which will be offering Pelee Island Winery wines,” said Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello, who is in China to promote Ontario businesses and investment.
Pupatello added that the Ontario government is taking steps to promote tourism in Ontario and market the province as a destination for Chinese tourists. “This is the perfect outlet in a province that services 100 million people,” she says. “We foresee the opportunity to get our wines into multiple places across China.”
Pupatello said that if the wines sell as well as expected the deal could be worth “millions.”
“Our wines compete with any wine from any region in the world, and I believe this is really putting their stamp on entering an emerging market with very high quality,” noted Pupatello.
Print this page
