The recent deal between Leopard’s Leap and Yangzhou Perfect of China to create a joint venture called Perfect Wines of South Africa which will export nearly 2.9 million bottles of wine to China by June 2012 has just been singled out for praise by the Minister of Finance for the Western Cape Province.
Delivering his medium term budget policy statement for 2012 to 2015, Minister Alan Winde said he was “thrilled to announce that Leopard’s Leap wines, in partnership with a Chinese company, have signed a deal to export 2.9 million bottles of wine over the next six months. This deal almost doubles South Africa’s annual wine exports to China, and my sincere congratulations go to them.”
The political recognition of the deal is good for the wine industry in the Western Cape as it will hopefully lead to more support for initiatives by South African wine brands to expand into Asia.