Wine New Zealand Celebrates Success

Media Release Monday, September 01, 2008

Wine New Zealand Celebrates Success

Hospitality and wine professionals flocked to Auckland.s ASB Showgrounds Sunday August 31st to attend New Zealand.s premier wine trade event. The opening of the show saw two exceptional tastings as part of the Corbans Viticulture Wine New Zealand Seminars. One was a regional tour of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and the other a tasting of New Zealand Syrah and other Hot Reds, both of which attracted record attendance. In addition to this there was the announcement of the winners of the inaugural Esvin Innovation in Wine Awards.

Trophies were presented for Innovation in Winemaking and Innovation in Wine Marketing. In the first category, the judges were looking for a winery that through the winemaking technique had created a wine that is unique within the marketplace, yet still maintained the quality that is expected of New Zealand Wine. The trophy was awarded to Wooing Tree Blondie produced by Wooing Tree Wines. The Judges commented “Luscious, stone fruit with strawberries with a very striking but unusual colour, this wine delivers something truly different without sacrificing quality.

Interesting to have created a still wine from what is traditionally reserved for sparkling. If wine was to be described as a diamond then this would be it, just the colour alone gets your attention.” Congratulations also to Alan McCorkindale and Forrest Wines both acknowledged as highly commended in this category.

In the Innovation in Wine Marketing category, judges were looking for a winery or wine brand which demonstrated innovation through marketing or promotion and who identified a niche in the marketplace and aligned their brand to that in a creative and innovative way. The calibre of entries in this was exceptional, ranging from sponsorship associations, to wineries that translated an idea through every aspect of their marketing collateral clearly and eloquently through to wineries that created unique limited edition wines around a particular theme. In the end however, there was one stand out amongst the entries and the trophy was given to Odyssey Wines for their Behave Brand and campaign.

The Judges commented “Excellent impact. They really created a story to this brand and clearly identified a target market and spoke to them using all the right avenues. This entry exemplifies how to develop a new customer base and promote and market wine with a „new and fresh approach.” Congratulations also to Owhanake Bay Estate acknowledged as highly commended in this category.

Organisers, dmg world media, are very honoured to have included these awards in the 2008 event to recognise the importance of innovation in sustaining a successful wine business and to demonstrate how a great idea, correctly executed with passion, creativity and a firm dedication to producing a quality end product are the building blocks upon which the New Zealand industry was built and continues to excel.

Tickets to Wine New Zealand are $20 per day. For any visitor who has not pre-registered, there is a one off registration fee on-site of $20 to register for the event. Once registered, Wine New Zealand entry tickets can then be purchased for $20 per day. As a trade exclusive event visitors must be professionally connected to the hospitality industry and no persons under 18 years of age will be admitted.

-ENDS-

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