WINE AUSTRALIA

Wine & Spirits Sommelier Scavenger Hunt

Hunter Valley

ABOUT WINE & SPIRITS MAGAZINE Wine & Spirits is the most-respected magazine amongst the on-premise and sommelier community in USA and Canada. It is published 8 times per year with a circulation of 87,000. Although based in the US (with offices in NY and SF), the magazine's content takes a global perspective on wine, featuring articles and reviews from every corner of the wine world. Since 1986 the magazine has been published and edited by Joshua Greene, a Princeton graduate. Greene purchased the magazine in 1989 and remains a key contributor. Wine & Spirits Magazine's principal authors are Greene, Tara Q. Thomas, Luke Sykora, Stephanie Johnson, Patrick Comiskey and Chilean wine author Patricio Tapia. To ensure objectivity, the magazine's wine tastings are conducted under 'controlled, blind conditions' by magazine staff and panels of retailers, sommeliers, winemakers and other wine professionals. The W&S community reads like a ‘who’s-who’ list for wine influencers. Wine Australia has a long-term positive relationship with Josh Greene. He was a VIP guest at Savour VIWF in Feb 2015 and proposed this opportunity to help support Australia. .

WHAT IS THE SOMMELIER SCAVENGER HUNT?

• Project initiated by Wine & Spirits Magazine in the US to develop content for an

Australian feature in the December 2015 edition • 15 sommeliers will travel to Australia consisting of 5 teams of 3 sommeliers. • Team leaders & sommeliers for each group vetted & recruited by Joshua Greene &

Wine & Spirits team. • Each team will visit different Australian regions and nominate varietal focus. • The following regions have been nominated by the 5 teams:

• Margaret River - Chardonnay • McLaren Vale/Adelaide Hills – Shiraz and Grenache • Yarra Valley – Pinot Noir • Hunter Valley – Semillon • Tasmania – Pinot Noir

SOMMELIER SCAVENGER HUNT The teams are required to: 1) Pre-Trip: research, outline their focus and justify their

region & variety of interest. 2) Travel: manage their trip itinerary as a team to taste,

learn, dig-deep to discover the terroir of the region and identify the wines that best demonstrate the compelling terroir story. During their time in the region they will tour independently, self-drive and manage their own itinerary.

3) A welcome dinner and a 2 hour regional benchmarking tasting will be held in each region.

4) Post-Trip: Upon return, teams will battle out which region is the best and why through a debate and trade tasting, in San Francisco prior to the Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting in October. Refer to following slide for more details.

5) The results of their visit to their selected region and the results of the competitive wine trade tasting in San Francisco will form the basis of an Australian feature in the December edition of Wine & Spirits Magazine

POST VISIT: SCAVENGER HUNT COMPETITION

Peer-led Competitive Education Event October 19, 2015 SF The US community loves to discover wine stories and gems - and then educate/lead their peers re their discovery (thus creating/driving wine trends). W&S has created a competition taste-off and presentation battle amongst all of the teams to determine who discovered the most compelling terroir/wine example. This is open to additional 30+ trade in the San Francisco Bay Area (just before the Top 100 tasting) and is a lively, entertaining, educational experience. Audience votes to determine the Scavenger Hunt winner. • Wine Australia will work with the wineries and importers to secure 2-3 bottles of each

selected wine for the tasting, using the Market Entry sample process if needed. • Wine Australia will attend the tasting competition as a host. • Wine Australia will have 1 table at the Top 100 Event (value of $7,500 USD)

MEDIA COVERAGE

Social Media: Each team is required to have a scheduled daily blog post during the trip and consistent social media pre-trip/during trip and post-trip. Print Advertising: 1/3 page ads (either horizontal or square) for each of the regions to ensure Australian visibility in issues from September 2015 to February 2016. This may be a regional advertorial or an advert. Wine Australia is available to assist with artwork if required. Feature Piece in Wine & Spirits Magazine: December Feature piece; On shelves early November in time for key holiday selling period of November/December. 10-12 pages in total dedicated to the project and the teams’ efforts to discover Australia’s regional terroir. Each region will have a dedicated section of 1-2 pages.

WHO ARE THE SOMMELIERS VISITING THE HUNTER? John Szabo, MS Team Leader John is a principal critic for WineAlign.com, wine editor of Toronto’s CityBites Magazine, contributing editor for Maclean's Wine in Canada and columnist for Ricardo and Grapevine magazines. He has freelanced for Wine & Spirits Magazine, En Route, the Globe and Mail, Vines, Wine Access, and Nation’s Restaurant News. He authored Pairing Food and Wine For Dummies and Sommelier Management, a textbook used by the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers, and is currently writing a book on Volcanic Wines from around the world. John received the 2009 Savour Ontario Wine Journalism Award and was listed as “Canada’s best-known sommelier” in Meininger’s Wine Business International in 2012. He has appeared on CTV National News, Breakfast Television, The Morning Show, TVOntario, CityTV, and CBC TV, and was heard regularly on Classical 96.3FM. John currently consults for The Little Inn at Bayfield, The Joey Restaurant Group, and Little Sister Indonesian. The Trump Tower Toronto, the National Arts Centre, the Terroni Group of Restaurants, The Indian Rice Factory and Frida Mexican are among past clients. John has delivered trade seminars for dozens of organizations such as the Wine Council of Ontario, Italian Trade Commission, Wines of Chile, Wines of Argentina, ViniPortugal, All About Greek Wines, California Wine Institute, Napa Valley Vintners Association, Austrian Wine Marketing Board, Wines of Germany and the Tokaji Renaissance, among many others. John teaches regularly for the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers. John is a regular a guest speaker and emcee, and has judged at dozens of wine competitions internationally. He manages personal wine collections and co-owns a small vineyard in Hungary, the J&J Eger Wine Co. With a 3rd degree black belt in Goju-Karate-do, his grapes are well protected, too.

WHO ARE THE SOMMELIERS VISITING THE HUNTER? Véronique Rivest Owner, Soif Wine Bar, Gatineau, Québec Véronique Rivest is one of the most respected sommeliers in Canada and abroad. Since her very first restaurant job at the age of sixteen, she developped a true passion for wine, food and service. Véronique won Canada’s Best Sommelier competition in 2006 and defended her title in 2012. She won the Wine Woman Award 2007 in Paris and, last October, took home the Best Sommelier of the Americas 2012 title. After placing twice in the Top Twelve in 2007 and 2010, she became the first woman to make the podium by taking 2nd place at the World’s Best Sommelier competition, in Tokyo in March 2013. Regardless of her accomplishments, Véronique remains genuine and approachable with an infectious enthusiasm about sharing the great pleasures of wine. Wine columnist for Le Droit newspaper and Radio-Canada radio in Ottawa, she also writes for numerous magazines and appears on many television and radio shows. Brad Royale Wine Director, Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts Brad is the wine director for Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts, overseeing eight beautiful properties throughout Alberta and British Columbia. Brad has been involved in retail and restaurant management for fifteen years. He has completed the ISG sommelier program and the WSET Diploma program. Brad has won multiple awards for his wine programs from Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Avenue Magazine and the Vancouver Wine Festival. In 2012 Brad launched his own wine label, Kitten Swish

The editor of Wines & Spirits will be joining the group for two nights

and will be reporting on their scavenger hunt throughout the region. Luke Sykora will be in the Hunter for the nights of:

Sunday Sept 20th Monday Sept 21st (departing Tuesday 22nd Sept) Background on Luke: Before joining Wine & Spirits, Luke Sykora earned a MFA from the

Iowa Writers’ Workshop and taught writing at the University of Iowa and the University of San Francisco. He started focusing on wine in earnest when he moved to California in 2007, and has since visited wine regions throughout the West Coast as well as in France. Based in San Francisco, Sykora runs the blind tasting panels for all domestic wines and serves as the wine critic for the California (other than Napa Valley). When he's not writing about wine, he occasionally writes about beer for DRAFT Magazine.

WINES & SPIRITS EDITOR VISIT:

SCOPE & RATIONALE Scope: Large-scale project to make impact and create excitement in North American

market. Opportunity to influence the influencers. Somms to make self-led educational discoveries in five Australian regions which are brought back and shared with US & Canadian trade, critics, & Somm communities.

Project Rationale: Wine Opinions research project identified trade perceptions, category challenges and areas to target for our efforts in USA. This project is more than an IVP request. It addresses and neatly bundles 3 critical areas to engage with on-premise trade. 1. Trade Trips: Aust is significantly behind our competitors re trade trips from USA. 2. Trade Engagement/Community Activation: beyond ‘grassroots’; larger scope. 3. Media coverage/PR: cover & full-length feature piece during key holiday selling period. Format: The format, program requirements and itineraries, driven by W&S and the sommeliers themselves, are based on passion for learning as well as a competitive desire to lead a discovery amongst their peers. Uber-boutique, hip, natural, groovy. Upon return, scheduled competition events & coverage to educate/excite the broader somm community.

We are seeking the following support from nominated regions: 1. Cover the cost of all accommodation for the three sommeliers in region for 5

nights . This accommodation may be in the form of on-site winery accommodation, guest houses, hotels, or serviced apartments. We request that the group does not share rooms, but a shared bathroom is acceptable.

2. Cover two nights accommodation for Wines & Spirits editor – Luke Sykora 3. Arranging the regional benchmark tasting (refer following slide for details) 4. Arranging a regional welcome dinner 5. Regional bodies to provide assistance as requested by sommeliers for

additional visits that fall outside of pre-arranged appointments arranged by Wine Australia.

6. Provide artwork for the bonus 1/3 page regional advert or advertorial. Please note – Wine Australia can assist with development of artwork if required.

REGIONAL SUPPORT:

The sommeliers have chosen Semillon as the focus variety. They are open to guidance but have suggested they would be interested in the classic, steely, ageworthy style, and especially late/museum releases. Anything organic/biodynamic/natural would be of interest. 1. 2 hour regional benchmark tasting on Day 1 of visit. 2. This tasting will consist of a total of 50 x wines. 3. Wines must be tasted blind and must be considered benchmarks for the region. 4. Sommeliers will choose the focus varietal (Semillon) of the benchmark tasting and

request up to 20 wines to be present at the benchmark tasting. Please refer to following slide for details.

5. An additional 30 wines can be selected by regional bodies for a total of 50 wines. 6. Please note - regional bodies may need to include non members for the 2 hour

benchmark tasting in a neutral location. 7. Winemakers are required to attend. *To elevate the premium paid for Australian wine this initiative seeks to emphasise wines priced in the medium-high price points and to promote regions of origin. The wine selection for the benchmark tasting should be restricted to those which meet the following criteria: - High quality wines - Branded Australian wines (no private label, bulk wines, export only labels, etc)

BENCHMARK TASTING:

BENCHMARK TASTING: Wineries requested by the sommeliers to be included in the benchmark tasting:

Wineries highlighted in green are wineries nominated by the somms for a dedicated visit. These visits will be arranged by Wine Australia.

Tyrrell's: Vat 1, Stevens, HVD, Belford

Drayton's Ian Scarborough

McWilliam's Mount Pleasant: Lovedale, Elizabeth (also museum releases)

Margan Family Semillon

Meerea Park (Alexander Munro and Terra Cotta)

Brokenwood: ILR Reserve

Lindemans Mistletoe (regular and reserve)

Andrew Thomas Poole's Rock (Cockfighter's Ghost)

Len Evans's Tower Estate

Harckham Jim Chatto Capercaillie

Wyndham Estate Two Rivers Pepper Tree

McGuigan Tulloch

• Increased awareness of your wine region in the North American market – 5 days in-depth discovery of the Hunter Valley, history, wines, personality, producers, & viticulture

• Opportunity to influence the influencers through the regional tastings and dinners. • Extensive coverage in Wine & Spirits Magazine, including a 1 to 2 page feature on the

Sommelier Scavenger Hunt in the Yarra in the December issue, on shelves in November to support key holiday selling period in North America

• Visibility at Top 100 event in SF in October – 6 standout wines from the Hunter to be tasted with an audience of critics, winemakers, and influential members of the trade

• 1/3 page ad credit in Wine & Spirits Magazine for the region ($3,995 value) • Promotion via Social Media highlighting the sommeliers visits to you region

• Facebook SommScavenger • Twitter @SommScavenger • Hashtag #SommScavenger

**Wine Australia is investing directly in this visit, and this is an opportunity to leverage from this with minimal investment required**

REGIONAL BENEFITS

DEADLINE AND TIMING:

The deadline for regional commitment is:

Friday 21st August, 2015 The groups are scheduled to visit the Hunter from the 19th September – 24th September.

Please refer to draft itinerary for details. Any queries, please contact: Ali Lockwood Wine Australia – Adelaide Ali.lockwood@wineaustralia.com (08) 8228 2064 0418 818 827

Thank you