A great article this morning on the Winebiz website, posted under the title “A bold case for Australian excellence”.
Today marks the wine industry’s most significant investment to date in telling Australia’s fine wine story to an international audience. Aimed at celebrating Australian excellence not just in wine, but also in terms of food, hospitality and tourism, 12 of the world’s most influential wine media and educators will be hosted by Wine Australia in the Barossa Valley for five days, before travelling further afield on regional tours across South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.
The inaugural Landmark Australia Tutorial will comprise more than 200 of Australia’s finest wines, presented by the country’s leading winemakers and commentators, and accompanied by an original series of seminars devised uniquely for the event. Anticipated highlights include an ‘Historic’ masterclass featuring sought-after wines such as the 1954 Seppelt Great Western Hermitage K72 Shiraz, the first vintage of Penfolds Grange (1955) and an extremely rare 1955 Wynns Coonawarra Estate ‘Michael’ Hermitage.
A Slow Food/Slow Wine evening also promises to be an inspiring experience, showcasing the best of the Barossa’s local produce partnered with Australia’s new wave of alternative varietals and sustainably-grown wines.
Paul Henry, Wine Australia’s general manager market development, commented: “The intention of the Landmark Australia Tutorial is to create a forum for people to discover and debate the voice of our top Australian wines. It should serve as a rallying point for informed wine opinion, and aspires to be the most influential residential wine course in the world. It certainly promises to be the most authoritative and extensive exploration of Australian fine wine yet undertaken.”
The 248 wines chosen to articulate the Australian fine wine story were nominated in collaboration with the guest tutors for each masterclass, and are intended to capture a sense of Australia’s winemaking history, as well as to give an indication of Australia’s intended future direction in terms of style, varietal expression, technical development and regional signature.
“The world should be much more familiar with the contribution Australia can make as a producer of fine wine, and also as a leading exponent of exceptional cuisine, cutting edge hospitality and inspiring regional tourism,” Henry concluded.
Anyone around the world can watch and respond with their thoughts throughout the week, by contributing to Wine Australia’s blog at www.landmark-wineaustralia.com or via Twitter www.twitter.com/winehero
