By Amy Looker
Australia’s First Families of Wine (AFFW) made its first push into the Queensland market on Monday.
The collective of 12 family-owned wineries launched into Queensland at an Unlocked masterclass at the Brisbane Hilton, with each family putting forward their flagship wines for tasting, including the 2005 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon, 2004 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz and the 1996 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon.
This was followed by a masterclass hosted by the next generation of AFFW members who presented their new direction wines.
Chairman Mitchell Taylor said AFFW had been planning for some time to mark its official launch in Queensland.
“It’s terrific to be here because from the very first inception of Australia’s First Families of Wine, we always talked about coming to Queensland and doing it right because of the potential of the Queensland market,” Taylor said.
The First Families in Brisbane on Monday
AFFW will soon conduct its first Asian tour with a visit to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing where the group will host masterclasses for both the trade and consumers.
“The quality of our top wines is really being appreciated in China and the potential, if we market properly to the Chinese market, is very promising,” said AFFW member, Stephen Henschke.
“The Chinese have a lot of respect for the French winemakers, particularly Bordeaux, so it’s very important that we get over there and start to show that not only we can compete with a region like Bordeaux but also the quality of our wine.”
Australia’s First Families of Wine launched in 2009 and is made up of Brown Brothers, Campbells, d’Arenberg, De Bortoli Wines, Henschke, Howard Park, Jim Barry Wines, McWilliam’s Wines, Tahbilk, Taylors, Tyrrell’s Wines and Yalumba.