Westie wine brand celebrates 100,000 bottles sold!

Press Release – Friday 24th April 2009

2 year old Te Henga The Westie wine brand celebrates 100,000 bottles sold!

A recent function at the Babich winery, hosted by leading wine writer Michael Cooper, celebrated the success of the Te Henga The Westie brand with the launch of a recipe booklet inspired by local chefs.

Te Henga The Westie is a range of wines created by Babich Wines exclusively for the West Auckland market and is distributed through the West Auckland Licensing Trusts. The strong relationship between Babich and The Trusts meant that they could work together to create a brand that appeals to the local market.

At the event, Michael Cooper said “I believe this is a first for New Zealand, with a winemaker and a retail chain teaming up to present a range of great value wines. One hundred thousand bottles sold is a substantial number, and a testament to the quality of Babich wine, and the enthusiasm of the Trusts’ restaurants and stores.”

Chefs who contributed to the recipe booklet were awarded at the event with a set of chef knives. The 7 chefs were chosen from local Trust owned restaurants and each chose a different Westie wine to go about creating the perfect food match.

93 years ago Babich became a pioneer of West Auckland, producing wines for the local West Auckland customers. Over the past 20 years Babich has transformed itself into a major exporter of New Zealand wines around the world, with extensive vineyards in Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay. 2 years ago Babich returned to its pioneering roots with the launch of Te Henga The Westie - a brand that has become an icon of the West.

The brand is a huge success and is sold through all of the Trusts retail stores. (Including King Dicks, Local Liquor, Titirangi Village Wines and West Harbour Wines and Spirits) The wine is also served at some of West Auckland’s most popular bars and restaurants, as well as The Trusts stadium. Waitakere City Council has taken this wine on board and use it for corporate gifts for visitors to the City – to promote the essence of West Auckland. The wine has become such an icon of West Auckland that it has even been included in the Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Back label story:

The clean, green, unspoiled environment of New Zealand is nowhere epitomised better than at Te Henga - the wild and rugged surf beach on Auckland’s West Coast. All Westies have a spirit of freedom and independence which is inspired from the west’s awesome landscape. As they say, once a Westie always a Westie and these wines capture the attitude of the west in a bottle – something any Westie would be proud of.

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