The Heart and Soul of Fine Australian Wine Impresses International Markets
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) June 04, 2015 -- Media release – June 4, 2015
For immediate release
For the past two weeks, Australia’s First Families of Wine have been touring through the US and Canada on the AFFW UNLOCKED Tour de Force, spreading the word about quality Australian wine and placing it front and center on North America’s wine agenda. Led by AFFW’s fourth chairman, Robert Hill-Smith (Yalumba) and organised to coincide with Aussie Wine Month, the twelve representatives charmed their way through San Francisco, New York, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, hosting 13 official AFFW sell out events and working the markets in each city.
Starting in San Francisco on May 18, Chairman Robert Hill-Smith defined the purpose of the tour as “lifting the bar and perceptions about what Australian wine is all about.” The AFFW UNLOCKED Tour de Force swept through on a journey that Hill-Smith described as “a charm offensive… we’re here to seduce, have fun and have media, trade and consumers believing in the subtle quality of premium Australian wine.” And charm they did, with extensive media attention throughout the tour in both the US and Canada and a huge buzz created on social media. In fact, the AFFW hashtags on Twitter alone created over 6.8 million impressions and reached 626,000 users. Impressive numbers by any standard, highlighting the importance of social media to storytelling globally.
Founded in 2009, the AFFW group came together to raise the profile and provenance of quality Australian wine, at home and around the world. Launching in the UK in 2010, Canada in 2011 and China in 2013, North America was the obvious focus for 2015. This international activity has been coupled with a major domestic tasting program – UNLOCKED – pitched at both trade and consumers. Successfully held throughout Australia, the UNLOCKED initiative has established AFFW as a strong voice for Australian wine, committed to driving the message about the quality, history, provenance and stories behind their leading brands, many of them household names. This initiative and format has proved to be an excellent springboard to catapult AFFW into all overseas markets.
Angela Slade, Regional Director of Wine Australia North America reflected, “It was so impressive to watch how the AFFW group can powerfully and uniquely share the Aussie fine wine story and demonstrate personality, history, humour and phenomenal wines in one fell swoop. This was a real inspiration for me and my team for the work we have ahead to keep telling the Australian wine story.”
Robert Hill-Smith concluded the tour with similar enthusiasm, “Long live the USA! Viva le Canada! Viva le Tour de Force! We’ll be back.”
On tour were: Ross Brown, (Brown Brothers); Colin Campbell (Campbells, US only); Chester Osborn (d’Arenberg); Darren De Bortoli (De Bortoli Wines); Stephen Henschke (Henschke); Jeff Burch (Howard Park, Canada only); Peter Barry (Jim Barry Wines); Scott McWilliam (McWilliam’s); Alister Purbrick (Tahbilk); Bruce Tyrrell (Tyrrell’s); Justin Taylor (Taylors) and Chairman Robert Hill-Smith (Yalumba).
Want to see the UNLOCKED Tour de Force in action? Take a peek at the highlights video that was created in Toronto here: https://youtu.be/OcRzEdPswYg
ENDS
For information, high res images or interviews please contact:
Donna White, Donna White Communications
Phone: (203) 558 4262
Email: donna(at)donnawhitepr(dot)com
Will Rogers, Donna White Communications
Phone: (917) 439 5249
Email: will(at)donnawhitepr(dot)com
More information is available at http://www.affwunlocked.com.au.
Join the conversation on Twitter: @AFFWine
Via Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/affwunlocked
BACKGROUND ABOUT AUSTRALIA’S FIRST FAMILIES OF WINE:
• The Australia’s First Families of Wine (AFFW) initiative was launched in August 2009 at the Sydney Opera House
• AFFW is 12 multi-generational family owned wineries that recognise a common need to raise the profile of Australia’s wine industry nationally and internationally
• The charter is to engage consumers, retailers, restaurateurs and industry colleagues around the globe to understand the quality of Australian wine, appreciate its character, and the personalities behind the brands
• Environmentally conscious and responsible, AFFW wineries adhere to best environmental practices throughout their businesses.
Australia’s First Families of Wine: the Heart & Soul of Australian Wine
Brown Brothers, Campbells, d’Arenberg, De Bortoli Wines, Henschke,
Howard Park, Jim Barry Wines, McWilliam’s Wines, Tahbilk, Taylors,
Tyrrell’s Wines, Yalumba
Donna White, Donna White Communications, +1 (203) 558-4262, [email protected]
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