Getting your wine into China’s best restaurants requires an effective pitch that explains the unique selling points of your wine. Sommeliers are constantly going to tasting sessions, meeting with wine reps, and attending industry events. If you want to get their attention, then you need to take some time to develop a nuanced, sophisticated sales pitch that takes into account the following factors.

Take a portfolio approach

For every wine that gets added to a wine list, it is highly likely that another wine will need to be removed. Thus, as part of your pitch, you will need to take into account not just the absolute merits of your wine, but also its relative merits. For example, a 90-point review might be very impressive, but what if all the wines currently on the wine list have 95-point reviews? Or, it could be the case that the restaurant already has a very stellar listing of Cabernet Sauvignon wines on its wine list. What the wine director or head sommelier might be looking for instead are other red wine varietals – such as Merlot or Pinot Noir – that can help to balance out the overall wine list.

Understand current trends in wine consumption

While restaurants will always have a “core” offering of wines that everybody will enjoy (such as at least one Cabernet Sauvignon and one Chardonnay), they also regularly update their wine lists to reflect current wine consumption trends. For example, one relatively new trend in the Chinese wine market is the desire to try sweeter wines. Chateau Bertranon, a Bordeaux producer, is now highly popular not just because it is a Bordeaux wine brand, but also because it offers sweeter wines. And ice wines are also growing in popularity. China now has a handful of wine regions that produce exceptional ice wines, and the Canadian ice wine producer Inniskillin is now starting to appear on Top 10 lists of e-commerce sites such as Tmall.com

Another current trend in wine consumption involves the changing perception of wine – and especially white wine. In general, wine is now seen as being better for one’s health and wellness than baijiu, the traditional Chinese grain alcohol that is still the most popular alcohol beverage in the nation. The color red has historically been linked to health and good luck. But now white wines are emerging as popular, especially with young millennial women. As part of your wine sales pitch, then, you might want to consider how to position your white wine (such as a Pinot Grigio from Italy or a Cabernet Sauvignon from New Zealand) as a health and wellness alternative that restaurant patrons are likely to order.

See what’s already working in Hong Kong

The Chinese wine industry is still relatively young, and in many ways, still takes its cues from Hong Kong. In other words, trends and concepts that start in Hong Kong usually find their way to China’s coastal cities, and from there, to all the other cities in Mainland China. So, one part of your wine sales pitch might highlight how your wine is already doing well in Hong Kong, and that it is only a matter of time before it gets accepted in China.

Don’t forget about food-wine pairings

One common perception about selling wine into the Chinese market is that Chinese consumers (and, by extension, the Chinese restaurants that serve them) don’t care about food and wine pairings. As a general rule, that might be the case. However, it’s not the case when it comes to high-end (i.e. four-star and five-star) restaurants. There, food and wine pairings are often taken very seriously.

One good example is the Shang-Xi restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai, which specializes in pairing Chinese cuisine with French fine wine. The restaurant only has 22 seats for the public each night but offers an extensive wine list of 300+ wines. Another top Shanghai restaurant that takes food and wine pairings very seriously are NAPA Wine Bar & Kitchen, which offers a wine list of 700+ different wines, and emphasizes a message of “perfect harmony between food and wine.”

As a general rule, the most interesting food and wine pairings are going to involve foreign wines that uniquely complement the cuisine of a specific Chinese region. Some regional cuisines (e.g. Sichuan) favor spicier ingredients, and so the goal here would be to emphasize wines that can pair very well with these hot, spicy dishes. Others are heavily fish-influenced (e.g. Shandong), while still others are known for sweeter dish combinations (e.g. Canton). By understanding these unique nuances, you can create an optimal pitch for your wine.

Showcases awards, titles, and “Best Of” listings

Wines that win top medals in international wine competitions are going to have an advantage over other wines. And the impact of those awards or medals is magnified even more if they are coming from a large Chinese panel of judges at a competition hosted within Mainland China. For that reason, competitions like the China Competition (hosted by Beverage Trade Network) can be an important way to differentiate your wine brand from the crowd. They often award medals in several different categories, so even if you don’t win “Wine of the Year,” you might still win a “Best in Show” award within a certain category.

Reviews and ratings also matter. Being able to showcase a 90+ point rating, for example, is always going to make your pitch more effective. And, just as easily, you could also highlight reviews and rankings on wine e-commerce sites, including Tmall.com, JD.com, Vinehoo.com or YesMyWine.com. If customers are giving your wines high marks, that can become part of your overall branding and messaging.

At the end of the day, the decision of whether or not to include your wine on the wine list comes down to a decision of how much value you are able to provide. As seen above, there are various ways to highlight this value. Since many of these factors are highly subjective, be sure that you are tailoring your wine sales pitch to the needs of a specific buyer, and not just using a “one-size-fits-all” approach. The best fine dining restaurants in China are very unique, and that means your wine and wine sales pitch need to be unique as well.