No one is championing Chinese wine in Australia quite like Hamish Williams. He officially launched importer / distributor Periphery Wines last year and is already on his third shipment, connecting consumers to wines made across China, including from Gloriville, Puchang, Silver Heights, Shofang, Tinnyu and Xiao Pu.

That geographical diversity has its equal in the styles of those wines, including a vast range of grape varieties, from well-known ones like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay to quirkier options, such as Muscat Hamburg, Longyan (Dragon’s Eye), Georgian specialty Saperavi, the cold-resistant hybrid Beichun and—what has emerged as a key grape in China—Marselan.

In this Q&8, I ask Williams about that diversity as well as how he became interested in Chinese wine, how he connects Australian consumers to them and his recent winery visits in China.

1 Let’s start at the start. What originally inspired your interest in Chinese wine and what were your first experiences of tasting them?

Funnily enough it started as a question at the ‘mapped’ wine shop where I work: “Why don’t we have wine from China?”

After getting carried away with investigating, I was amazed by this world that I knew existed, but had never encountered. At the time, almost no one in Australia had seen or heard of Chinese wine, so it felt new and exciting.

Tasting them for the first time was an interesting experience—I didn’t trust my own palate so I opened the bottles for others, and I focused on giving them as much information as I had, rather than the wine myself.

I remember, however, that the wines I loved had this alluring freshness and minerality that I hadn’t really seen in Cabernet Sauvignon. It was unique.

2 I know you tasted numerous wines before settling on your first shipment. What were the key concerns when choosing that first batch? And how important was price as Chinese wines have often been described as expensive?

The first shipment was curated very intentionally to be premium wine. I felt a sense of responsibility bringing Chinese wine to a new market in Australia, so I put the Chinese wine industry’s best foot forward first and focussed on the best of the best, within reasonable budgets.

I figured very early on that I couldn’t take the entirety of China’s wine industry and distill it into a few pallets, otherwise I would’ve ended up with 99 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. It was also an early realisation that the international market’s demand for Chinese wine was going to be very different from China’s domestic demand, and I found niches in cuvees such as Silver Heights’ Bloom Sparkling, with a unique Chinese rice wine element.

I am genuinely content with the price of Chinese wines. Whilst value for money may differ, quality is improving across the board. Just because it’s from China, it doesn’t mean it has to be cheap. China can produce premium goods—look at the tea industry.

Also, the cheap wines aren’t quality-driven, and it was so important to me that the wines were—otherwise they would’ve gotten lost in the sea of cheap Australian wine. They had to stand out and show what the country was capable of.

Since I started I’ve brought over cheaper wines, but the goal with these glass-pourable cuvees is brand recognition—for the country, region, and producer. Through this, I believe I can encourage consumers to explore the quality-driven wines I love.

3 What are the main ways Australian consumers are learning about these wines? Tastings at restaurants and bars? Wine festivals? Word of mouth? Media coverage?

Whilst I’ve focused my efforts primarily on sales to restaurants and bottle shops, there is no road that has been left unexplored. I’m very fortunate to be able to sell all the wines through Cardwell Cellars, where I’ve worked for two years and who have supported me throughout this journey.

I love seeing the wine in restaurants—especially Chinese restaurants. Australia, and Melbourne in particular, has dozens of outstanding restaurants that focus on fine-dining Chinese food. There’s something so romantic about pairing this with Chinese wine—no longer do these venues have to fall back on European wine. Just as you expect to have French wine at a French restaurant, we can now have Chinese wine at a Chinese restaurant: as the old saying goes, what grows together goes together.

I’ve also worked very hard to promote and inform through food events or educational classes. Central, a Chinese restaurant in Brisbane, is a great example of a venue that is committed to communicating the Chinese wine story to its customers. I’m also very enthusiastic, so consumer-facing masterclasses allow me to communicate my enthusiasm to the consumer, whilst also encouraging me to refine my expertise as much as possible.

I acknowledge that I’m not Chinese. Nor do I speak Chinese. Unlike others, I haven’t lived in China either. Prior to this venture, I hadn’t even visited China. As an outsider, I’m in a fortunate position where I can observe. But what I can do, as experts do, is verbalise observations and communicate those to a wider audience in ways that resonate and are understood. This is particularly emphasised with China—who have been able to maintain some degree of individuality in an increasingly globalised and interconnected world.

Being able to communicate China’s wine industry to consumers in Australia is tricky, and I am only one person, but these wines create opportunities for discussions around ignorance, prejudices and misunderstandings, which I love.

I’ve noticed more and more traffic about China in general on social media—more influencers are travelling their and documenting their ‘authentic’ experience.People are also increasingly interested in the diversity offered by Chinese cuisine. I admire people like Chris St. Cavish, for example, who’s been able to distill Chinese food culture into a video format on YouTube that is accessible to the international community. It many not be easily accessible to people in China, but that’s not the point.

4 China largely committed to Cabernet-driven Bordeaux-style blends the past 20 years but the producers you carry—Gloriville, Puchang, Silver Heights, Shofang, Tinnyu and Xiao Pu—use a broad range of styles and grape varieties, including Beichun, Black Muscat, Longyan and Rkatsiteli. To which demographics in Australia do those wines appeal?

Australia’s wine market is self-sufficient in many ways: there is a large demand for big, bold, juicy, Barrosa valley-style wines, and large volumes of those wines are produced—so much so that it’s often exported, and it’s become a thing that Australia is known for globally.

Unfortunately, in Australia, I don’t see the market for Chinese Bordeaux-style wines increasing in the future. I discovered very quickly that the individuals drinking those wines were very conservative with choices and closed-minded. Strangely enough, I even find this in the very established Chinese-owned restaurants: they have their Penfolds and they’re happy with that.

Diversity is the spice of life! These consumers are also much more interested in drinking amber wines—because they’re juicy, and don’t remind them of the cheap New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs they may have consumed in their late teens. Xiao Pu’s Tangerine has seen immense success here because of that. Additionally, Chinese amber wines aren’t faulty like many of their French or Italian counterparts.

5 Chinese wines have been exported since the 1980s but tend to be a novelty. A major issue is getting a second shipment. You are now on your third shipment. What have been the keys to making this happen?

Enthusiasm and hard yakka.

6 You just visited China, including producers such as Shofang in Hebei province and Silver Heights in the Ningxia region. What are the key takeaways from the visit and what are some new products your followers might expect in upcoming shipments?

Both visits were outstanding, and both demonstrated just how novel wine tourism is in China. It was clear that Changli and Yinchuan aren’t used to seeing Western tourists, and I loved that part of it! Especially in comparison to Shanghai, which is such an amazing, global city.

I was particularly blown away by Ningxia—I knew it was going to be dry, but I wasn’t prepared for just how dry, dusty, and alkaline the soils were. Visiting Domaine Des Aromes was eye opening. Listening to [Peng] Shuai and [Sun] Miao talk about the difficult growing conditions really made me respect the work they do.

Silver Heights felt like a beautiful little oasis in the desert—Emma [Gao] and her team have done an outstanding job of creating such a special place in an often-unforgiving climate.

7 Say a wine aficionado with little experience of Chinese producers wants recommendations to get started? What three bottles are you putting in their shopping basket?

That’s easy: Silver Heights ‘Bloom’, Xiao Pu ‘Tangerine’, Gloriville Longyan. Or, for the more traditional crowd: Tinnyu Chardonnay, Silver Heights ‘The Summit’, Shofang Muscat Fortified.

8 You have only been at this since last year but have already accomplished a great deal. What do you see your business heading in the next few years?

Thanks so much! I really do love it.

Admittedly it is a challenge, but I enjoy it—it’s exciting, exhilarating, and just plain fun. I’ve enjoyed committing myself to a particular place and distilling that into something I can share, especially a place that is so underrepresented and overlooked.

As for the future, I’m really not sure. I am a sole trader and I cannot be responsible for all Chinese wines in Australia. I would love to see more picked up, even if that directly challenges my own business.

I’m very happy with the portfolio that I’ve developed—the most recent shipment is a big expansion but I finally have regional representation for everywhere except Shandong. There’s one or two more I’m interested in, but I’m not looking to grow in terms of new producers—just grow in terms of volume.

I’ve found myself just passionate about wines from countries that we don’t see in Australia. The world of wine becomes so limiting when all you encounter is French, Italian, and a bit of Spanish. There’s about 70 wine producing countries in the world, but in Australia we have maybe 20—21 now!

I’ve found some Vietnamese rice wines that have excited me, so they’ll be landing in the new year. Also, the idea of wines from places new to Australian consumers—Mexico, Brazil, Ukraine and Central Asia—are what excite me. I’ll just keep exploring the periphery.

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