By Shane Williams
Excitement is building as Independent Brands Australia’s (IBA) annual conference in Santiago de Chile draws to a close, with a gala dinner to be held at the prestigious Castillo Hidalgo tonight.
Sponsored by Foster’s Australia and Pernod Ricard with the support of Coca-Cola Amatil, Diageo, McWilliam’s and Oatley Wines, the gala dinner will present the IBA Retailer of the Year Awards major category winners.
In what has been described as a “wonderfully run” weeklong conference, delegates have enjoyed an array of workshops, lectures and leisure activities, including horseback riding at Hacienda Santa Martina in the Andes, a visit to the Maipo Valley wine region as well as luxury spa treatments.
Chile´s flagship varietal is Cabernet Sauvignon and with the Australian dollar strengthening, liquor retailers should expect to see these complex and competitively priced wines hitting Australian warehouses in greater quantities this year.
The conference has cemented strong working relationships within the Cellarbration, IGA plus Liquor and The Bottle-O families, as well as creating a solid network for future innovation within IBA.