Down Under goes off the beaten track

Wines & Vines, July, 2002 by Kevin Sinclair

American exporters face another potent threat in the Asian market, where they are already in a tough marketing drive against New World competitors. The Australian Wine Export Council (AWEC) has named a new marketing development manager, and he's a man with two decades of experience in the demanding wine bazaars of the Far East. Everyone in the retail, wholesale and catering side of wine sales between Seoul and Jakarta, Delhi and Osaka knows David Dean; chances are they've had a Grenache/Shiraz blend with him at a wine show in Shanghai or at a trade fair in Kuala Lumpur. He's now spearheading the ambitious-and impressive-Australian blitzkrieg into regional markets.

For more than a decade, he was head of the McLaren Vale wine region professional body, but last year, he left his local wine region determined to start his own company. Almost immediately, AWEC snapped him up.

His resume and qualifications are impressive. He is a former executive with the Grape Growers Association of the South Australian Farmers Federation, former director of the South Australian Wine Grape Exchange and a partner in Kroemer Estate, a boutique winery in the Barossa Valley. He spent a year as a mature student at Roseworthy College, Australia's preeminent winemaking educational facility, and worked at the famed Mountadam Winery. Not only has he sold wine, but his experience goes back into the vineyards and cellars, giving him expertise in every phase of the industry. He was also manager of the South Australian Wine and Brandy Association.

With the amiable aggression typical of Down Under merchants, Dean operates in a casually disarming manner, and his strength in Asia is built on that almost mystical concept of guanxi, or connections. Asians feel more relaxed dealing with someone they know-and just about all serious players know Dean. He has cut an immense swathe through wine shows where his knowledge and easy-going manner have introduced many Asian buyers to Australian vintages.

His strategy is simple. While running McLaren Vale, Dean managed to persuade scores of rival winemakers to bury their differences and promote the region. In Asia, he will be doing the same, boosting the "Wine Brand Australia" notion.

"Get them tasting Australian wine, then explain the differences between our regions, grapes, climates and individual wineries," he says.

That blanket approach puts "Australia" first. There's no such American approach; not even a Californian one. "My aim is to build awareness of Australia as a premium wine nation," he explains. "Then we can start talking about the huge variety of wines we produce."

Then there is the reverse side of the coin; in China, Vietnam, Korea and other markets, Dean gets out of his 5-star hotels and into the marketplace. During one recent visit to Hong Kong, for instance, he went out to the most distant fringe of the territory, caught a ferry and ended up on remote Tap Mun (Grass) Island, close to the coast of China. There he tasted chile prawns and showed islanders how a soft Australian red enhances the dish. "I try to understand Asian cultures so I know better how to speak to people when I am trying to explain wines," he says.

Don't view major Asian markets as one, he warns. And don't approach them as you would sell in Britain or Europe. "You've got to learn the cultures before you can sell them wine," he adds.

His new job is challenging but fascinating. Part of it is to recognize that markets in Southeast Asia, China and Japan--"Australia's backyard"--will form an important role in Australia's strategic plan for market growth.

"We've got to positively engage the Asian markets based on a sensitive understanding of the diverse cultures and market requirements," he says. That's not done by staying in a hotel and watching CNN. You've got to haunt supermarkets and trade shows, talk to restaurateurs and catch that ferry out to remote islands.

(Kevin Sinclair is Asia Correspondent for Wines & Vines. He can be contacted at edit@winesandvines.com.)