By Andy Young
Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has retained the rights to be the official wine partner of the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) after both sides agreed to a new five-year deal.
The agreement also sees TWE as the official wine partner of the Melbourne Cup Carnival and means the relationship between both sides now extends to 43 years.
TWE’s managing director for Australia & New Zealand, Angus McPherson, welcomed the deal and revealed that this year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival will see more than quarter of a million glasses of Yellowglen sparkling wine poured.
“The VRC provides TWE with the perfect platform to engage consumers with our iconic wine brands,” McPherson said.
“Starting back in the 1970s, through an association with Seppelt and its sponsorship of the Great Western Stakes on Melbourne Cup Day, we have enjoyed a long and valued partnership and look forward to that continuing into our fifth decade.
“As the number one sparkling wine in Australia, Yellowglen has become a fixture of the Melbourne Cup Carnival – a brand that is anchored in moments of celebration. This year, we expect more than 300,000 glasses of Yellowglen sparkling to be poured during the Melbourne Cup Carnival alone.”
VRC Chief Executive Simon Love added: “At the VRC we pride ourselves on building true partnerships, and the relationship with Treasury Wine Estates epitomises that. A corporate partnership spanning 43 years is remarkable.”
The new agreement will see TWE as the exclusive supplier of sparkling and table wine for all corporate and Birdcage marquees, on-course bars and restaurants during the Melbourne Cup Carnival, as well as the naming rights sponsor of the Yellowglen Turnbull Stakes.
Yellowglen will host a New York ‘Hampton’ style double storey trackside-terrace with an elevated viewing platform and themed cocktail bar and TWE’s Wolf Blass brand will host a marquee in the Birdcage.