Plaimont, a group of French wine producers, has announced it will be entering a joint venture in China.
The group of producers based in south-west France is one of the top ten wine cooperatives in the country and already sells 100,000 bottles a year in China.
Although a Chinese partner has not been announced, Plaimont will be joining Castel and Taillan – the latter currently in a joint venture with BAIC (Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce). Taillan and BAIC own 25 hectares of vineyard land near Peking.
Plaimont boss, André Dubosc, confirmed the group were in talks but that the move was not definitive.
‘Nothing has been signed,’ he told decanter.com.
‘Plaimont wants to establish itself in China on a long-term basis as the Chinese consume, and will consume, more and more wine,’ Dubosc told press agency AFP.
Written by Oliver Styles