Beresford Wines launched its much anticipated Tasting Pavilion last night with South Australian Tourism Minister Leon Bignell officially declaring the site open for business.

Located in the heart of the McLaren Vale, the facility offers a premium wine and food experience – with three tiers of wine available for tasting, matched with local, seasonal produce.

Angelo Kotses, managing director of parent company Bickford’s Australia, said the Tasting Pavilion was the result of extensive research into successful wine businesses from across many regions.

“We travelled the world to see many wine regions and discovered McLaren Vale needs a tasting space that showcases what wonderful wines we have here at Beresford.

“We make great wine. We bottle great wine. We’ve got a wonderful estate. We need to showcase what we have and we need to give people the opportunity to experience it.”

Leon Bignell spoke at the opening, commending the Beresford team on creating a unique drawcard for South Australian tourism.

“I love that we have this brand asset for our McLaren Vale region,” he said. “It is a stunning building which shows that McLaren Vale is truly blending the old with the new.”

Bignell said the Tasting Pavilion added value to the McLaren Vale wine region and rivalled successful wine businesses in California’s Napa Valley.

“This is like the Napa Valley and that’s where we need to be aiming,” Bignell said.

He also praised Beresford’s decision to charge for wine tastings, and said it should be the way of the future in the state’s wine community.

“You should put a price on what you have to offer then it has a value,” Bignell said. “In Napa Valley they charge for a tasting. It works in favour of the producer and the consumer as it gives the person who tastes the wine a bit of a cop out. If they are paying $15 for a tasting, they won’t feel guilty about not buying a bottle at the end.”

Bignell said South Australia has a goal to be the leader of food and wine in Australia.

“Governments can’t do it on their own,” he said. “We need to work shoulder to shoulder with producers. Sometimes we need to assist with marketing and sometimes we need to get the hell out of the way.”