It was very ‘rockstar’ according to one member of the Aussie press that came to taste with me.
I flew out on Friday evening arriving in Sydney on Sunday morning, spent the day exploring Sydney Harbour and trying to stay awake, had a Loire trade tasting all day Monday and flew back on Tuesday.
Brutal is more how I would describe it but – a great experience and – I loved Sydney.
Just wish I’d had more time to explore and get out in the Australian vineyards to taste some of their fabulous wines.
Sydney Harbour is beautiful and the Opera House is stunning. Boat taxis coming in and out of the harbour add drama and colour and just across the way, there are people teetering across the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Just thinking about that sets the vertigo off but really, what an amazing view they must have from up there.
I contented my self with walking across the bridge and taking pics of the harbour from the other side.
The day I arrived was the day of the Sydney Marathon. The place was buzzing, runners with medals meandering around the streets after their run, crowds settled in by the Opera House watching them over the finish line, a group doing yoga under the bridge itself, coffee stalls already in action at 6 in the mornning. It was bright, hot and sunny. Unusually hot for the time of year everyone was saying. Climate change at work again. I lunched with Emma (who was organising the event in conjunction with the Aussie team). We choose a chicken salad and I enjoyed a cool beer.
After an early night it was up bright and early for the trade tasting. My hotel was perfectly located just a few minutes walk from the venue. And what a venue it was. In some of the oldest buildings around, overlooking the harbour and the Opera House.
There was just me from the Loire! Two other growers had been due to fly out but as you may be aware, this harvest has presented its challenges and so they were forced to stay behind. I hoped the Australian trade and press wouldn’t be too disappointed. Instead of a French vigneron, they were faced with a Brit living in the Loire.
The event was superbly organised. You may remember that I did a similar whistlestop visit to Canada in March and while that event was really well organised, there were one or two areas that could have been improved upon. All those little niggles had been listened too and acted upon. I was impressed.
Each importer (or winery seeking an importer) had a table. Spitoons, ice, ice buckets and water were provided. Printed tasting notes that I sent over in advance were available for tasters to take away, slow pourers were provided for all the wines, wines were refrigerated in good time and people were available to give a hand if necessary. Each table was gvien a plastified map of the Loire so I could show tasters exactly where Lionel is located. Really well organised.
I took along brochures in English explaining all about the appellations of Touraine and Touraine-Oisly and a slide show of pictures that I’d taken the week before on the first day of harvest.
There was a press briefing early in the morning followed by a workshop led by a local sommellier after which the other importers had time to quietly taste our wines before the general trade customers arrived.
Around 150 people attended the event. Journalists, wine educaters and wine students, shop managers, restaurant owners, lifestyle bloggers and importers.
I had the best spot in the room, overlooking the Opera House (although unfortunately I had my back to it).
All in all it was a very successful day. I met lots of lovely people and it gave me the opportunity to understand the Australian market better. Wine is expensive in Australia. Taxes are high and a small glass of decent wine is likely to cost you around 25$ (which is around 15 euros).
The night of the event we dined in a little wine bar just down from the hotel. We tried four different Australian wines, an old Semillon Sauvignon from 2011, a Chardonnay from Margaret River, a Shiraz (of course you have to have a Shiraz) and a Pinot Noir. They were all delicious and a far cry from the standardised wines most people think of when they think of Australian wine.
Now my job is to follow up all the contacts made and take our business further. If I go over again, I’ll be sure to add in a bit of extra time to discover things.
