August 15, 2006
it isn’t just about the marketing…
It isn’t just about the marketing:
Virtually unknown South African winery, Stormhoek, co-owned by Orbital Wines in the UK and South African wine marketer Graham Knox, has won the top international prize for Pinotage in its first major competition.
The Stormhoek Pinotage 2005 has won The KWV International Trophy for Pinotage for the best Pinotage at the 2006 International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC), held recently in London.
Now in its 37th year, the London-based IWSC is one of the best-supported competitions internationally and is regarded as the premium show of its type in the world. Nearly 6 000 entries were received from 73 countries, up from 5 000 and 57 respectively from the 2005 competition. Opposition for the trophy this year included heavyweight SA Pinotage producers such as Ashbourne, Fairview, Kaapzicht and Simonsig, with Kanonkop and L’Avenir having won the award in the past. The Stormhoek Pinotage retails at £5.99 in the UK whereas all the other Pinotage finalists in the competition are priced in the £10 – 25 range. The champion Stormhoek Pinotage, made from Wellington-grown fruit, is on sale throughout the UK, USA and South Africa.
I especially like the “Virtually unknown” and the “Retails at £5.99″ bits. Rock on.
Congrats Hugh!
Reminds me, gotta get a few bottles to take to the Ritz down the street.
Speaking of which, we have a guest room. You’re welcome anytime. Play golf? I don’t. Heheh.
Glug
Glug
Glug
Glug
Glug
Kerching!
Congratulations to Stormhoek!!!
Technically though, Stormhoek is probably better known in the virtual world than the offline one, so “virtually unknown” is a real misnomer…
Hugh -
Good news for Stormhoek. Your references to the mention of “Retails at £5.99″ made me take note of this article on BBC today, which discusses how the British buy their supermarket wine by price, and how there are magic figures or price points on which they base their decisions. Also noted is the influx of brands from outside Europe (Read: ‘new world wine’).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4791429.stm?ls
Cheers!
Congrats to you and Stormhoek! And Robert is right-on, it not just about marketing. Looking forward to being able to buy Stormhoek at the LCBO in Toronto.
glad to hear it’s good stuff and not just a good campaign!
Sheamus in Toronto buying Stormhoek!
Poetry.
Thanks for the kind words, Everybody…
Shaun, Stormhoek was pretty unknown by most bloggers a year ago. Now we just need the mainstream, supermarket-shopping wine drinkers to follow their lead
Heh, congrats. I have to admit, I always thought Stormhoek was a bit of a peculiar marketing bubble — hyping a wine to techies who knew very little about wine, but who’d like the tech/blogger lifestyle associated with it. But apparently, the wine really is good on its own merits
I promise to buy a bottle when it comes to the Netherlands.
Congrats Hugh and Jason!
Loved the illo!
Now I will go hunt a bottle down here in Dallas, TX.
Yup, blogging wine works. ; )
Smooch,
The Tart
; )