ONE of the men overseeing the Australian arm of China’s third-largest winemaker in north-west Victoria is torn about Beijing’s crippling new tariff on local bottled wines.
On one hand, Andrew Allen is simply doing his job as the winery manager of Weilong Wines, which will avoid the tariff as it sends its product to China in bulk containers.
READ MORE: Red Cliffs winery beats the Chinese tariff bottleneck
But on the other, he is an Aussie who has worked in the local industry for more than two decades and knows just how much the tariff will hammer the hip pockets of “friends” in the region.
In an interview with Sunraysia Daily this week, Mr Allen revealed he had copped some online abuse after China’s announcement of the new tariff a fortnight ago.
“There’s been a bit (on social media),” he said.
And while he says he’s shrugged it off “because I have a job to do”, Mr Allen still feels for fellow winemakers in Sunraysia.
“Yes, definitely,” he said.
“The tariffs aren’t great for the industry. And we’re looking to be part of the Australian industry.
“(Before now) the industry as a whole has been good (to Weilong).
“We’ve got really good relationships with the guys at Treasury, Duxton and AVL (Australian Vintage Limited, Buronga Hill), so there’s no angst in the wine industry, per se.
“We’re just stuck in the middle like everyone else.”
Mr Allen left his previous job at AVL to help oversee the $85 million stage 1 development of Weilong’s production site on Treviso Way, a 10-minute drive from Red Cliffs.
The site has been operating for about 18 months and sources grapes from its vineyards at Coomealla, Iraak and Nyah.
Weilong – which has about 40 full-time staff – has the capacity to process about 25,000 tonnes of grapes a year at the winery, on top of a further 15,000 tonnes being crushed at the vineyards.
In an earlier interview with the Daily, the company revealed plans for further expansion to take its production volume up to 170,000 tonnes.
“But we’re not looking to significantly increase capacity just now,” Mr Allen said this week.
About 80 per cent of Weilong’s product is shipped to China, with “most of the rest staying in the Australian market”.
“China will take all the reds at the moment,” Mr Allen said.
“(The Chinese) seem to love the cabernet and cabernet shiraz, the good Aussie dark reds that we do really well in this area.”
He said Weilong would not be impacted by the new tariff.
“All of our wine to China goes in 24,000-litre containers and the tariffs are basically on bottled product,” Mr Allen said.
“(Our bulk containers) are like a big cask. They have three layers of plastic and they make up a full export container.
“It’s a lot cheaper to transport in bulk, simply because you can fit more liquid into containers.”
He said businesses across Sunraysia and other parts of Australia had benefited from Weilong’s investments in north-west Victoria.
“Nearly all of it would be, if not local, then definitely Australian,” Mr Allen said of the materials used at the $85 million production site.
“The tanks are from A&G (Engineering) in Griffith and (locals have) done a lot of the steel work, concreting, electrical, earthmoving, refrigeration and security work.”
