WHILE Port Adelaide isn't usually renowned for its wine culture; it is now synonymous in China with some of the finest drops on offer in South Australia.

A partnership between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Swan Wine Group, which started in 2017, has been the nucleus of that association.

Port Adelaide CEO came together with Swan Wine Group Managing Director Li Wei on Tuesday to announce an extension of that partnership until the end of 2019.

“To showcase the very best of South Australia to our friends in China is exactly the kind of vision the Port Adelaide Football Club has for our China Engagement Strategy,” Mr Thomas said.

“To be able to formally announce the signing of an extension to our partnership with Swan Wines, an organisation that shares our values and our vision for the relationship between Australia and China, is extremely exciting for both our teams.”

Swan Wine Group commenced its relationship with the club in 2017 as a match sponsor for the inaugural AFL game in Shanghai between the Power and Gold Coast.

“The undertaking was an incredible journey and a success for our club, with over 6000 Australians travelling to Shanghai to watch that game and 3000 members of the local community also coming along,” Mr Thomas told a gathering of 150 importers and distributors of wine into China on Tuesday afternoon.

“To have Swan support our efforts for a two-year extension of the partnership in a deal that not only includes the Shanghai game but also other important government events is enormously important to our club.”

The partnership extension was announced at a signing ceremony during the Pure Taste Adelaide festival, of which Swan Wine Group is a major sponsor.

The festival is about embracing tourism, wine education and international trade, taking in the famed South Australian wine regions in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills.

Swan Wine Group’s cellar door and boutique winery based in Tanunda, in the Barossa, is supported by its original 10 hectare, Centenarian Vineyard established in 1908.

It is now one of the top ten exporters of wine into China and boasts about 250 distributors in 150 Chinese cities.

Swan Wine Group is perhaps best known for its Auswan Creek Ambassador Shiraz which features an image of Australia’s former ambassador to China, Geoff Raby, on the label.

Mr Thomas told the Chinese visitors the partnership extension with Swan Wine Group was evidence Port Adelaide’s China Engagement Strategy was resonating with businesses.

“The opportunity that we have seen through our friendship with China and its people has been humbling and exciting,” he said.

“We began this partnership as business partners and we extend this partnership as great friends.”

The partnership comes on the back of an announcement last week that AFL football will be shown on three separate broadcasters in China throughout the year.

The Port Adelaide Football Club will feature in 11 of the 23 weekly home and away season matches to air on Guangzhou TV, while matches will also be shown on Shanghai TV and Shandong TV.

More on portadelaidefc.com.au...