The so-called Cellardoor Challenge has been launched to help support Australian wineries during the coronavirus outbreak, by encouraging wine lovers to ‘virtually’ promote and share the wines they’re drinking with their friends.

“Wineries are struggling, their hospitality and tourism revenues are now literally non-existent and many, particularly the smaller ones, rely on their direct sales. So, we wanted to give our wineries biggest fans (us!) the opportunity to help by sharing our stories and talking about the wines we love. What better way to encourage wine lovers to buy wine direct from wineries”, says Junovate co-founder and digital strategist, Judy Pridmore.

The mission is to feature over 500 Australian wineries and 1000 wines in 180 days. To join the challenge, wine lovers talk about the wine they’re drinking and then challenge three friends to do the same, posting a video or photograph to social media (via the Cellardoor Challenge Facebook or Instagram page).

“It’s been heart-warming to watch the Cellardoor Challenge take off online. The wine community is truly embracing this opportunity to show their support to the people behind the wines. I can guarantee the small guys do a little happy dance for every order they receive,’ said Emily Hay, marketing and communications officer for the Barossa Grape & Wine Association.

The next phase of the Cellardoor Challenge is to join with wineries and regional associations to promote the challenge to their members, as well as hosting virtual events together, including Friday drinks, tastings, Q&A sessions and winemaker happy hours.

As Toni Carlino, marketing and customer experience manager at Singlefile Wines says, “An initiative like the Cellardoor Challenge is not only fun, but so important to our wine community. Supporting local wineries by buying direct will go a long way to helping us sustain our wine producers during these challenging times”.

The Cellardoor Challenge is a philanthropic initiative of the Junovate team, whose founders include Judy Pridmore, James Halliday, Paula Grey and Dheeren Vélu. Their partners in the challenge include Anjelique Ioannou Digital Design, Digital Eagles, Impact Data and VentraIP who have also contributed their time and services at no cost.

Junovate, creator of James Halliday’s Top 100 virtual assistant, Juno, is a market-leader in advanced technology solutions for the wine industry. Their solutions and services include virtual assistants, AI conversation-enabled websites and business advisory services to wineries, retailers, regional tourism organisations and wine event specialists.

More information about the Challenge can be found online: www.cellardoorchallenge.com

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