China's increasing thirst for premium wines has helped boost the value of Australia's wine exports by seven per cent to $2.2 billion.
Industry body Wine Australia said there was exceptional growth in China last year with the value of exports rising 40 per cent to $520 million last year.
The group's annual Export Report, released on Friday, shows the total export value of Australian wine grew by seven per cent to $2.22 billion in 2016, with the average value rising six per cent to $2.96 per litre, the highest average value since 2009.
Behind the strong growth was premium Australian bottled wines, particularly to China.
Exports priced $10 and more per litre were up in all of Australia's top five markets except Hong Kong: mainland China by 47 per cent, the US by 23 per cent, the UK by 25 per cent and Canada by 9 per cent. Hong Kong was down by 12 per cent.
"Last year, Australia's most premium wines took centre stage," Wine Australia chief executive Andreas Clark said.
"Our highest-priced wines ($10 or more per litre) achieved record value in 2016, up an impressive 19 per cent to $574 million."
Mr Clark said the momentum has continued into 2017.
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