That’s two per cent above the NSW average. Most of it is going to China, Hong Kong and South Korea where there has been a 22 per cent increase in demand for premium wine – principally big, dark, reds with corks.

Mortimers Wines owner Peter Mortimer announced on Wednesday he had secured a deal, worth up to $240,000, to supply a container with the same amount of wine he produces every year, for China – with another same-sized container heading to China in February.

Mr Mortimer said he would be sourcing wine from other Orange growers and would be hiring a new full-time employee to fill the orders and keep his local operations running.

And he was one of six local vignerons that met a delegation of Shanghai wine buyers on Wednesday to discuss further export deals.

“A container of our wine will be sent to Chengdu, in south-western China, the home of the pandas,” Mr Mortimer said.

“That’s 1176 cartons of wine. It’s massive. It’s about what we sell in a year. And a back-up container will be going in February.”

He said the deals had come about with government help in cutting through the exporting red tape.

“It’s the only export deal we’ve done. We have been approached many times, but it’s been too difficult for me.”

Trade, Tourism and Major Events minister Stuart Ayres, who was in Orange on Wednesday, said the growth of cool climate wines from Orange to new markets including Hong Kong was up by nearly 300 per cent.

“Our wine’s better than everyone else’s in the world and we need to make sure we are on the front foot in selling that,” Mr Ayres said.

“People want to trade, they’ve got additional capacity all across NSW but they haven’t known what steps to take.”

Philip Shaw Wines director Damian Shaw said State Government and Austrade support was fundamental to them showcasing and exporting wine to Asia.