The bombshell that SA had been invited to join Bric - a phantom club of the fastest-growing emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India and China - was a welcome Christmas present for SA wine.

Although initial market reaction was positive, an even further strengthening of the rand against the currencies of our export partners will cause even more pain and job losses for producers in the grip of an export meltdown.

Of our four new best friends, the one with the brightest wine export potential is China. Russia already imports huge quantities of low-alcohol whites through St Petersburg, where it is turned into sweet "champagne." By the mafia, if you believe Wikileaks.

Indian exports are bamboozled by swingeing import tariffs and the infamous difficulties of doing business in the subcontinent, which sees Chile sell more wine that SA, despite the sizeable community of South Africans of Indian descent and many cultural connections.

Brazil is very much Portuguese territory, given the close colonial and language ties between the two countries and the curious lethargy of SA exporters when faced with South America.

"I wish we had a Chinese speaker in the office, but we'll make a plan!" was the reaction of Wosa (Wines of SA, the exporters' mouthpiece) CEO Su Birch in her reaction to the Bric bombshell, admitting "Wosa has very limited funds to invest in China." She spends most of her R38-million budget in the UK, with precious little to show for it.

Faced with a Wosa vacuum, many SA producers, such as Tokara and Simonsvlei, are marketing wines themselves. Darling negoçiant Charles Withington recently returned from the fifth China (GuangZhou) International Wine and Spirits Exhibition and the seventh World Famous Wine Festival held in December. His Niel Joubert wines was the only SA brand to win an award.

"The show is 10 times the size of the one last year and is quite a bit bigger than WineX. It is very smart and quite different from the scrums of punters you find at SA shows. Chinese buyers want to sit down and discuss the wines with you."

Withington reports that the Niel Joubert flagship shiraz, Christine Marie 2006, won best new world red in a blind tasting. He makes the point that, although this wine has done well in SA competitions, such as the Michelangelo International Wine Awards, they count for nothing in China - something for marketers to ponder as they allocate 2011 resources to pricy local wine shows.

Selling wine in China is not for sissies. One of the requirements on winning an award is to "down-down" a glass at the presentation ceremony - a serious challenge in the case of Christine Marie, as she weighs in with 16.3% alcohol.

The grandly named "SA Wine Pavilion" was funded by importer SA Valley Wine Co.

So while Wosa bureaucrats continue to "work closely with the government agencies at national and provincial level to develop a strategy", canaries at the coalface get on with the business of selling SA to 1.3-billion thirsty Chinese. Gan bei!

• . Read Pendock Uncorked at http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/pendock