Bay’s wine website now with Chinese subtitles

12 September 2012

MEDIA RELEASE

Bay’s wine website now with Chinese subtitles

As more Hawke’s Bay wineries move to tempt the growing number of Chinese wine drinkers, the region’s wine organisation is gearing up to support them with an updated website that features Chinese translation of both copy and videos.

Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc., executive officer Lyn Bevin reports there are 26 local wineries now exporting to China, up from 18 late last year.

“There is a growing interest and inquiry about Hawke’s Bay wine as a result of the Chinese enthusiasm for high quality, premium red wines that this region is renowned for,” says Ms Bevin.

Chinese visitor numbers to winehawkesbay.co.nz website now rank seventh behind more traditional wine markets such as Australia, USA, UK and European countries. The site attracts around 40,000 hits each month, and with more Hawke’s Bay businesses looking to do trade with China, this number is likely to rise.

“We know that Asia, and China in particular, is of increasing importance to the economic growth of this region’s wine industry, and we are keen to make it as easy as possible for Chinese visitors to find what they need from our site,” Ms Bevin says.

The translations were prepared by Dragon Phoenix Wine Consulting, a company owned by Fong Yee Walker who visited Hawke’s Bay recently to judge wines entered into this year’s HB A & P Society Mercedes Benz wine awards. Ms Walker has previously addressed HBWG members on how to break into the Chinese market.

Two specially commissioned video interviews are new features of the updated site showcasing leading Bay wine personalities including Nicholas Buck from Te Mata Estate Winery, Gordon Russell of Esk Valley Estate Winery, and Kate Radburnd of C J Pask Estate Winery. These were shot earlier this year and contain Chinese subtitles.

The new website has been refined so that users can more readily find what they are looking for.

“Some of our visitors simply want to download the wine trail map and get tips on etiquette but others want serious information on soils, terrior and other winemaking information,” says Ms Bevin. “There’s specific information just for members, and there is also a section for trade and media. We also provide other tourism information about Hawke’s Bay, so it’s a multi-faceted site.”

Ms Bevin also has a library of printed materials translated into Chinese that are available for visiting Chinese media, buyers and wine lovers.

ENDS

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