Thursday 27 September 2012

Seeking the best Independent Australian Winemakers


Media Release

NAKED WINES HOSTING $1 MILLION GLOBAL WINE COMPETITION

The renowned UK online wine retailer, Naked Wines, has launched a global competition to discover the world’s most talented underground winemakers. Judged by hundreds of consumers, the competition will reward the best independent Australian winemaker with a £50,000 listing on their site – and the chance to win a $500,000 investment fund.

The contest, deemed The $1million Zero to Hero Wine Awards¸is free for winemakers to enter and will consist of six preliminary rounds which will accept entries from countries around the world including, Chile, Spain, the UK, Argentina and France. The leg for Australian entries will take place on 3rd October at Australian House in London. Finalists from each country will receive a £50,000 listing on the Naked Wines site and will compete for a $500,000 investment fund in the grand finale this December.

“Our goal as a business is to reward genuine winemaking talent, not marketing budget, as there are thousands of top-drawers producers who don’t have the means to make give their wines presence on our shores,” explained Rowan Gormley, Founder and CEO of Naked Wines. “Zero to Hero puts every winemaker who enters the competition on a level playing field, being judged by everyday wine drinkers rather than experts or critics, on the juice inside the bottle, rather than the size of their wallet.”

Winemakers must sent samples of their wines the Naked Wines’ UK office in addition to submitting their information via the website. To find out more and enter the competition, interested winemakers can visit http://www.nakedwines.com/zerotohero-aus. Don’t delay! The deadline for entries is Friday, 28 September.

“As a parochial Australian, I'm anticipating an Australian winemaker to scoop the awards,” quips Luke Jecks, Managing Director of Naked Wines Australia. “This competition is a once in a lifetime opportunity for independent Australian winemakers to gain recognition for their craft and to show the rest of world how talented we are.”

Naked Wines (www.nakedwines.com.au) launched in Australia on July 1, 2012 with the mission of ensuring that up-and-coming winemakers without big brand budgets are able to reach consumers on a personal level with investments and distribution. Naked Wines will invest $1.5 million over the next year in Australian vineyards from different regions as part of its first international expansion. The site has also released iPhone and Android apps that allow users to chat to the winemaker of the wine they are drinking, view videos and tasting notes and access exclusive deals.

For more information please visit www.nakedwines.com.au

Twitter @NakedWinesAus

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