Actress and TV host Florica Lin becomes face of Grant Burge

Parent company Accolade Wines has announced Hong Kong actress and TV host Florica Lin as the new ambassador for Barossa wine brand Grant Burge.

Australian winery Grant Burge, with the backing of parent company Accolade Wines, has welcomed Hong Kong-born actress and TV host Florica Lin as the new brand ambassador for its ‘Leave Your Mark’ campaign.

She’s set to take the baton from Johnny Hui, famed for his roles spanning TV hosting, football commentary and acting. Lin’s addition marks the second instance of a high-profile Hong Kong personality championing this role for the campaign.

Australian wine has suffered challenges in recent years caused by a trade spat with China, which resulted from Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison calling for an investigation into the origins of Covid-19 in 2020.

China’s trade tariffs on wine originally came into effect in November 2020, imposing a charge of 107.1 – 212.1% on wine exports initially (the rates varied by company), which subsequently rose to 116.2 – 218.4% in March 2021. The punitive export sanctions contributed to wiping AUD$2.08 billion off the value of Australian wine exports in the year to 30 June 2022. In response, Australia raised a WTO dispute in June 2021, which saw an arbitration panel assembled in March 2022.

Accolade, which owns Hardys, Petaluma and Grant Burge, last month sold Tasmanian sparkling wine brand House of Arras to lower its debt and there are rumours that Carlyle (which owns Accolade) would like to sell its entire wine investment.

Hong Kong, now under Chinese rule, is a key trading hub for wine, due to its 0% import tax.

In good news for Australian wine, the Chinese ambassador has now signaled that progress is expected “within weeks” on the trade dispute between China and Australia that has seen crippling tariffs imposed on Australia’s wine imports.

Grant Burge may well be trying to keep Hong Kong wine drinkers engaged with the brand through the new ambassador appointment.