Back in late 1997 when I took up the role as general manager of the Australian Wine Export Council, Japan was beginning to loom large as a growth market for the Australian wine industry.rnBy the end of 1997, the volume of Australia's wine exports to Japan had recorded a 33% increase over the previous 12 months, but even that impressive growth was nothing compared with what occurred in 1998, when wine imports escalated dramatically. Australian imports surged by a massive 127% from 273,000 cases in 1997 to 619,000 cases in 1998.rnTotal imports from all countries grew from 11.5m cases to nearly 28m cases. The French were a major beneficiary, growing their own exports to Japan from 5m to 12m cases in a single year. It is true to say that nobody in the world of wine had seen anything like it either before or since.
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