Upper Yarra
Tuesday, 17 November, 2020
Hotel creates a buzz
End of artistic era
Lest we forget
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Nasty aftertaste By Jed Lanyon
Rod Micallef, owner of Zonzo Estate. in our brand and itâs been nearly three or four years now of building a brand in China. You donât want all that to go to waste, we want to continue on and develop our brand over there. âFor us it just feels like itâs in the hands of the governments at the moment, weâre just waiting to see what happens. Iâm not super stressed about the sale at the moment, because we have got a strong local market. Itâs not like we absolutely depend on the China market. For us at the moment itâs new and itâs exciting. âWeâre lucky that wine doesnât have a real expiry date and weâll have plenty of time to sell that stock through local markets if that sale
Picture: JED LANYON doesnât go through.â Wine Yarra Valley CEO Caroline Evans said she hopes to see a resolution soon. âFrom a regional perspective, weâre concerned about having heard there are distributors contacting some of our wineries letting them know they donât think theyâll be able to clear wine from the port. âItâs a concern for our region, much like it is for other wine regions as China is by far and away our largest expert market. âWeâre hoping that if there is an issue that itâs a short term problem and that we can return to sending wine to China again soon.â Speaking on ABC Radio Adelaide, Federal
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Minister for Trade, Simon Birmingham addressed Australiaâs trade relations with China. âThis year has seen a number of decisions and actions taken in China that have the regulatory risk for Australian businesses in trading with China. Decisions by businesses as to whether or not to sell goods and where to do business are always a balance between risk and reward, and unfortunately this year, as a result of some of the anti-dumping decisions, some of the regulatory decisions that are seeing longer processing times that are unacceptably long for live seafood products like lobster, have heightened the risk significantly in some of those quarters. Continued page 6
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Trade uncertainties and ongoing political tensions between Australia and China have seen some Yarra Valley winemakersâ exports put on hold as Chinese distributors are concerned shipments might not make it into the country. Yarra Glen winery Zonzo Estate were informed by their Chinese partners, they wouldnât be having their monthly wine shipment for October sent as they couldnât guarantee it would successfully make it into China as other export industries had been hurt by delays. Zonzo Estateâs shipment experienced repeated delays as they were initially told there wasnât enough room on shipping containers. Then finally when their Chinese distributors performed a routine check of their shipment, word came through that they wouldnât be taking the order. Zonzo Estate owner Rod Micallef explained how the situation unfolded. âWhile they were doing the inspection, the guy got a phone call and said, âlook weâre not going to take it as there is a risk that if itâs sent to China it might have to come backâ. âThey havenât cancelled the order yet, because they said they want to wait and see what the official word is because itâs all rumour at the moment. Weâve been paid and itâs just sitting there.â Despite the October shipment on hold and Novemberâs shipment from Zonzo Estate likely to be impacted, Mr Micallef said the distributors hadnât requested a refund, a testament to the relationship built internationally. âDistributors are nervous that if it gets all the way to China and it doesnât get through customs that theyâll have to send it back, or it gets stuck there sitting in a hot container and spoils.â Mr Micallef said three or four other Yarra Valley winemakers were in a similar position, which he described as âhelplessâ. âObviously these situations are based onwhat governments decide ... We canât really do much about it. Here in Australia we have invested and over in China they have invested