A cautionary tale for SA wine exporters eyeing the USA. The Australian reports that in Las Vegas, a city with the highest number of Michelin restaurant stars per capita, “only a handful of Australian tipples are to be found alongside the Grand Cru Burgundies.
At wine temple Aureole, which features a three-storey perspex tower loaded with bottles, there are just 49 Aussie wines among the list’s 2352 choices. Of these 49, shiraz accounts for 26, including 14 vintages of Penfolds Grange, another six are red blends, and five are fortified or dessert wines. Not a single Aussie pinot or chardonnay make the list.”
To turn the tide in the desert, Australia is sending Miss Jesinta Campbell (18) to the Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas next month, clad in an eye-catching national costume consisting of “high-heeled Ugg boots, a brown one piece swimming costume hand-painted by an Aboriginal artist and a lamb’s wool shrug. The ensemble is topped off by a voluminous flamenco-inspired rainbow skirt.” As reported yesterday in The Telegraph.
Jesinta Campbell in the Telegraph
Australia’s export woes are blamed on a drive by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation to increase the average price per bottle achieved – exactly the same advice being proffered to SA producers from some marketing mavens – leaving the bottom end to Chile.
As The Australian reports “Posh plonk hasn’t made a splash in the US. Over the past financial year, Australian wine exports to the US have fallen by 3 per cent to 156 million litres. Of even more concern to those hoping to push Aussie wine into the premium market, exports by value have shrunk even faster, down 14 per cent to $571 million as the average price per litre of wine declined by 11.8 per cent to just $3.66.”
A cautionary tale indeed for those wishing to pour Pinotage into the Holy Grail. From what I’ve tasted recently, better off following the lead of Distell and flooding the desert with Two Oceans and Obikwa and telling SA generic marketers to commission a national costume for Minki van der Westhuizen to trump the Aussie sartorial effort.
