SA’s FIRST state wine festival!

The months of February and March in Adelaide have become the most exhausting months of the year!  At that time we have the Tour Down Under, the Fringe Festival, WOMAD, the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercars, the Adelaide Film Festival and the Adelaide Cup carnival.  There is not a hotel bed to be had in town as the city buzzes with the 600,000+ visitors that are here during this frenzy, which makes it the perfect time to show off something at which we are very good indeed!  With so many events competing for attention, our interstate and international visitors have to juggle their time here, often struggling to visit more than one or two of our internationally recognised wine regions, so it seems only logical to present them all in one place at the time when we have the most visitors.  South Australia produces most  – and some of the best – of Australia’s wine, boasts some of the oldest individual vines in the world, has a diverse range of regions and is considered to be the wine industry’s “powerhouse” state and yet, astonishingly, we have never had a state wine celebration here!  Taking advantage of our world-class venue, the award winning Adelaide Convention Centre, the first ever state wine festival, the Cellar Door Wine Festival – Adelaide will be held there over 3 days from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 February, 2011!

The Australian wine industry is currently under pressure – both from the dollar and from the growing number of imported wines available here and this is the perfect opportunity to showcase and support our own world-class products.   The Australian wine industry has worked hard to put our wine where it belongs on the world stage and this will be a chance for our very talented winemakers to present their histories and their stories while  sharing with the consumers the experience of their wares.   The Cellar Door Wine Festival – Adelaide will be set up in wine regions, representing the more than 100 wineries which will be taking part, within the  sensational space of the Adelaide Convention Centre.  South Australia’s wine growing areas will be presented in a trail format, allowing the visitors to sample both the wine and some of the food specialities, providing a genuine regional experience.  The tickets will be produced in the form of passports and will list the 100+ wineries, grouped by region, with each wineries name, address, phone and website so that you will be able to follow up on any that particularly take your fancy.  Also planned are a Farmers Market food court, Festival competitions, Fringe performances, a Kid’s Corner and a Varietal View area.  The $20 passport includes a free Riedel glass, a $5 token for a glass of wine, unlimited wine tastings and the chance to win Beryl, the Smart Car or, for $45 you can purchase a VIP pass which includes a goodie bag with over $100 worth of produce!  The VIP passports are limited to only 1,000, so you need to be quick for those.

One of the most exciting aspects of the three day event will  be the Master Classes.  These events will have very strictly limited numbers and promise to be very special indeed.  There will be classes to suit all tastes and levels of wine education, from an introductory level, to a wine and  chocolate matching to the noteworthy  A+ Australian Wine Master Classes which will be the launch of their consumer tutorials.

In September of this year Australia hosted the Landmark Australia Tutorial.  This event brought together 14 internationally noted wine experts who conducted a week of tasting and Master Classes with a view to promote international recognition of Australian wine.  Of these experts, only two were from Australia and one of these, Tony Love, will be presenting the South Australian Regional Classics that featured in the invitation only Tutorial.  The Master Classes will also feature leading identities from Australia’s wine world such as wine writer Max Allen and international wine marketing guru Paul Henry.  These interactive sessions promise to be particularly exciting as, with the numbers limited to only 30 people per session, they will be a chance to have a very up close and intimate experience with some of todays leading wine personalities.  Max Allen is only doing two of these classes and Paul Henry is only doing one, so I imagine these will be snapped up pretty smartly and I’m told the tickets for them will be on sale by Thursday 25 November – here!

The Cellar Door Wine Festival – Adelaide will be a very important and exciting landmark for SA wine and the timing of it gives us the opportunity to showcase our wine  products optimally to our international visitors.  It will be a big undertaking and I will keep you up to date on some of the other exciting features of the Festival between now and the big weekend!

If you want to be among the first – and few – to take advantage of the Master Classes, the tickets for them will be going on sale here.  The general admission and VIP passports are available right now at the same place.

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