Misha’s Vineyard on Tour in Australia

Misha reports on the recent trip to Australia as part of the Central Otago Wineries tour.

We’ve been touring with 10 fellow Central Otago wineries for a series of consumer tasting events in Melbourne and Sydney, did some training with some of the new staff at our distributor (Fesq & Co.), and squeezed in a few trade visits to customers in Sydney, Melbourne as well as a day in Brisbane. It was 8 days exhausting days but we met a lot of folks and shared a lot of wine with people!

Our first stop was in Sydney where we went to the new(ish) Prince Wine Store in Zetland which is a great addition to the fine wine retailing scene in Sydney. The Prince Wine Shop in Melbourne is a destination shop so we’re sure this one will be the same.

With an ‘only Pinot Noir’ theme, visitors to the store had a chance to try over 30 Central Otago Pinots and we had a great turn out. Our next tasting was at The Winery at Surry Hills which was a great venue for some informal tasting with a much younger group of consumers who were keen to explore what Central Otago had to offer, so all the wineries showcased white wines as well as Pinot Noir. Our final Sydney tasting was at the Royal Automobile Club run by The Pinot Shop, which provided an added benefit by giving consumers the opportunity of trying wines with the new Riedel Central Otago Pinot Noir Glass. The glass made such a difference, and not only for the Pinot Noir but the examples of Pinot Gris and Riesling that were available for tasting also performed well in the new glass which really emphasized the gorgeous aromas of these cool climate beauties.

We were also were pleased to be able to host a tasting evening with one of our big retail supporters, Tom’s Cellars in West Pymble on the North Shore of Sydney. We presented some back vintages of our dry Lyric Riesling to an enthusiastic group in his cellar space under the shop, along with the full range of the Misha’s Vineyard wines we offer in Australia. The customers at Tom’s were genuinely interested in the wines, Central Otago region and the stories of Misha’s Vineyard. It was a really fun night and we had a very enthusiastic audience.

I dashed up to Brisbane for a very busy day visiting some of our favourite restaurant customers and retailers – -it’s always good to see Brent at Wine Emporium.

During the day there I finally caught up with the multi-award winning writer Tyson Stelzer. Gosh – what a great guy. When you’re talking to Tyson you have his full attention and he sure doesn’t appear to have any ego. It’s quite refreshing to meet an Australian wine journalist that’s as down-to-earth and such a nice guy! I finished the day in Brisbane with an evening tasting at Stewarts at the Barracks where we enjoyed meeting some new Misha’s Vineyard converts and where a gentleman happily walked home carrying a case of The High Note Pinot Noir with his complimentary pack of Riedel Central Otago Pinot Noir glasses that I had bought with me as a giveaway!

Our time in Melbourne, despite the grey and dampness, was busy and we managed to fit in some training with our distributor team before hitting the road for some trade calls. One of our schedule Melbourne events was a tasting evening at Armadale Cellars who pride themselves on their focus and selection of fine wines and their loyal customers certainly proved how knowledgeable they were during our evening tasting. This year the two events we did with Prince Wine Shop included a dinner at their associated restaurant Bellota, which featured a Misha’s Vineyard Verismo Pinot Noir 2009 which Philip Rich (owner of Prince Wine Store) highlighted as a standout wine on the evening, and the big Saturday tasting event which had shop staff saying they hardly ever get that sort of turnout to a Saturday tasting! Well when you have nearly a dozen of Central Otago wine producers pouring their best – it’s sure to bring out the biggest crowd, right?