The evolution of Australian wine explored in Copenhagen with successful tastings

Wine Australia’s trade and consumer tastings in Copenhagen last week enabled guests to explore the exciting new face of Australian wine.

The event, held at The National Museum of Denmark, featured a trade master class of 12 wines hosted by Danish wine writer Jacqueline Jensen, as well as tastings for trade and consumers respectively.

Wine writer and owner of www.rundtomvin.dk, Malene Smidt Hertz, said the tasting gave her a new understanding of the current styles, quality and trends of Australian wine.

‘Australian wine has a long and positive history in Denmark, first and foremost due to the taste, clear style and easy labelling,’ she said.

‘It has been a while since I last participated in a ‘broad’ Australian tasting and what surprised me the most was the diversity of styles.’

Guests tasted wines from leading producers such as Grant Burge, McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant and Kangarilla Road alongside equally exceptional wines from some 50 other wineries.

The master class centred on the theme ‘History and Evolution of Australian wines’ and offered participants insights into the past, present and future of the Australian wine sector.

The master class was followed by a general trade tasting attracting more than 120 attendees and a consumer event in the evening with almost 180 guests.

Malcolm Leask, an exhibitor and the owner of Hither & Yon, said the event offered a good selection of Australian classics, as well as lesser known boutique brands.

‘These targeted events are ideal for brands like us, particularly as a new market entrant… Brands like ours are unheard of until you go and visit (international markets),’ he said.

‘In our case, we know now that Hither & Yon is a match in Denmark, based on our growing and making philosophy, design appeal and on-premise/food focus.’

LANZ Vineyards owner, marketing and sales director Marianne Herren Lanz said the Danish trade is familiar with Australian wines, but had a lot more to discover.

‘To build up brand awareness takes a long time, but certainly the response to our LANZ wines from many of the tasters, trade and consumers, has been very positive,’ she said.

‘We are following up on some leads, and they mainly were a result of the preliminary work and contacting - but it is the event that triggered the contacts, so for us the event has been very important.’

Wine Australia Head of Market UK and Europe, Laura Jewell MW, said the tasting helped to strengthen Australia’s position in Denmark as a premium wine producing nation.

‘We were delighted to return to Copenhagen with a fantastic line-up of wines and it was great to see how excited trade and consumers were by the latest Australian vintages and styles,’ she said.

‘A sell-out master class with exceptional wines helped to highlight the history and evolution of Australian wine while the tastings were lively throughout. We look forward to returning to Denmark later in the year.’

Wine Australia will present a trade and consumer tasting in Copenhagen on Thursday, 6 October.