Fongyee Walker, one of the most respected wine educators in China, was pleased to set foot on Hawke's Bay soil on Tuesday after the long flight from Beijing. Her first outing during a packed five-day schedule was a helicopter ride over the Bay's unique and increasingly lauded vineyards to see where what she called "real quality" wines emerged from.
Ms Walker was appointed the Hawke's Bay Winegrowers Association's contractor to China earlier this year in the wake of the association picking up valuable funding from the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (AGMARDT) to promote the region's wine industry.
With China a strong new player in the export market the decision was made to take Ms Walker on to promote the Bay's best.
She founded, and manages, Beijing-based Dragon Phoenix Consulting with her husband Edward Ragg.
"Hawke's Bay has a very good reputation for producing quality wines," she said.