Image courtesy California Wines
This month, California Wines executed its inaugural Australian trade tour, Discover the Golden State of Wine – Tastings & Masterclasses with California Wines. With tasting events held across Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney, the three-day, three-city event welcomed more than 420 trade professionals, exceeding initial expectations, and is now being recognised as one of the largest official tastings in Australia by a wine industry body.
In partnership with Australian importers, the tour was designed to reinvigorate and deepen the local trade’s understanding of California wine by showcasing a spectrum of styles, varieties, regions, and price points.
Producers and Australian importers who participated in the tour included: Bacchus Wine Merchants, Bibendum Wine Co., Clarity Cru, Cru, Domaine Wine Shippers, Fine Wine & Craft Spirits by Constellation Brands, Jackson Family Wines, Oatley, The Duckhorn Portfolio, QED Wines, Saint Wine, Vintage House Wines, West Coast Wines, Young & Rashleigh and Delicato.
David Schomburg of West Coast Wines commented on the success of the trade tour.
“It was a great opportunity to meet, show and share our premium Californian wine portfolio to a greater wine audience—including some of Australia’s most influential wine buyers, restaurateurs, high end retail, writers and influencers on the east coast.”
As the importer of Rhone varietal wines with Tablas Creek, Matthew Quirk, proprietor of QED Wines said it was great to have the support of the Californian Wine Institute, to highlight the “unique story” and quality of the wines.
“I look forward to supporting the event every year, because California is more than just Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernets.”
In addition to these exhibitors, California Wines hosted its own table of new-to-market labels from California Wine Export Program members, which spotlighted pours from wineries like J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, Fior di Sole and Trinchero Family Estates.
Hiro Tejima, joint regional director of North Asia and Australasia at California Wines, described the trade tasting as a significant step for the region’s recognition in the Australian market.
“To enhance California wine’s potential in the Australian market, our priority is to solidify relationships with our distribution partners and their customers, as well as highlight new varietals the industry may have not yet had the privilege to sample,” said Tejima. “This tour has taken us a big step forward, sharing the diversity and innovation of California wines, and most importantly, bringing our local industry peers together to connect, learn, and rediscover the Golden State.”
Each city of the tour also featured a series of masterclasses hosted by wine educator Elaine Chukan Brown, offering attendees a deeper dive into the regionality and storytelling behind the wines they were sampling on the tour. Elaine’s masterclasses narrowed in on two areas: a 45-minute seminar that broadly covered the varieties and regions of Californian wine and an hour-and-a-half seminar that provided a deep dive on the wine territory.
For more information on California Wines and to learn about the area, their Capstone California program offers a variety of resources including maps as well as regional and varietal study guides and is also home to the official certification program.
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