Australia-China winemaker exchange in South Australia
Four Australian wine professionals will spend four weeks in China as part of the second Australia-China Winemaker Immersion Program.
Following an opening ceremony at Penfolds Magill Estate in South Australia, the second Australia China Winemaker Immersion Program exchange to China has commenced.
The program is delivered by Australian Grape & Wine and the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, with support from Wine Australia, Treasury Wine Estates, COFCO and government and academic institutions in both countries.
Four Australian wine professionals will spend four weeks in China during harvest, gaining experience in the Shandong and Ningxia wine regions.
The participants are Harry Scanlon, owner, winemaker and viticulturist at Scanlon Wines in the Adelaide Hills; the co founder and winemaker of Beechworth based Foreign Friends; Leila Davis, travelling winemaker; Holly Edson, front of house manager at Noosa’s Atelier Wine Bar; and Treasury Wine Estates assistant vineyard manager Mike Lyons.
The program includes practical placements at Chinese wineries including Penfolds Ningxia, Chateau Junding and COFCO Great Wall, along with an academic exchange at China Agricultural University in Beijing and a visit to the China International Fair for Trade in Services.
The program will conclude on 23 September with an event marking 40 years of the sister province relationship between South Australia and Shandong.
The exchange follows the Australian leg of the 2026 program in March, when four Chinese wine industry professionals visited South Australian wine regions including the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley during vintage.
The program is intended to support knowledge sharing between wine industry professionals in Australia and China, with areas including climate adaptation, market access and sustainability.
A follow up engagement in June saw a Treasury Wine Estates delegation join an Australia China Business Council visit to Yaochi Xiye winery in Xinjiang, where the delegation reconnected with Kou Yaqin, one of the Chinese winemakers who participated in the Australian exchange earlier this year.
During her time in South Australia, Kou examined regional viticulture issues including irrigation and rootstock selection for warm and dry growing conditions.
Following her return to Xinjiang, Kou modified vineyard irrigation, while a longer term rootstock project is being developed through a new nursery block established with the Grape Research Institute of the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
The 2026 program is the second year of the reciprocal exchange between Australian and Chinese wine industry professionals.