What Are The Top-selling Wines on Tmall?

No. 1 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc Dry White Wine
Origin: New Zealand
Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Price: RMB 333.05 (about US$46)
Alcohol: 13% vol

Owned by LVMH, Cloudy Bay is arguably the most important single white wine label in the Chinese market. The brand has helped drive the rise of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc category in China, and its influence has been felt across the broader market. As New Zealand wine imports into China have continued to grow in both volume and value in recent years, Cloudy Bay has played no small part.

It is worth noting that the top-ranked Cloudy Bay listing comes from an official Moët Hennessy direct-sales channel.

On Chinese e-commerce platforms, however, there has long been a large number of parallel-import listings priced at around RMB 250 (about US$35), well below the official retail price. In other words, even with no shortage of lower-priced competition, the officially operated RMB 333.05 (about US$46) Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc still managed to top the chart, a sign of the strength of both the product and the brand.

Taobao/Tmall data show that Cloudy Bay recorded 600-plus sales in the past 30 days and has held the No. 1 position for three consecutive weeks. Over the past 365 days, the product has achieved 4,000-plus sales across the two platforms.

That said, a Tmall Supermarket listing for a parallel-import version of the same wine shows more than 6,000 sales across the platform. Because same-product matching is based on algorithmic identification, the platform notes that recognition may not always be accurate. As a result, Cloudy Bay’s true sales are likely significantly higher than the figures above suggest.