Senior representatives from the world’s most celebrated wine regions have arrived in SA for the Great Wine Capitals of the World annual general meeting.
The 100 wine delegates attending the November 3-9 event will experience several of SA’s 18 wine regions including Barossa, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills.
It is the first time Adelaide has hosted the week-long event since the city became a Great Wine Capital in 2016.
International guests will visit some of Australia’s most iconic cellar doors including Seppeltsfield in the Barossa, the d’Arenberg Cube in McLaren Vale and Magill Estate, the spiritual home of Australia’s most renowned wine Penfolds Grange.
PIRSA’s Agriculture, Food and Wine executive director Jo Collins said showcasing SA’s wine country to visiting delegates was invaluable for the local industry and would help forge new relationships and strengthen existing ones.
“Wine is a product you experience rather than merely consume,” she said.
The d’Arenberg Cube cellar door and restaurant will feature in the McLaren Vale tour.
“For our network colleagues to have the opportunity to enjoy the diversity of our wine, in unique locations and in the company of great people will create lasting memories – and relationships,” she said.
According to the Organisation of Vine and Wine, Australia was the world’s fifth largest wine-producing nation in 2017 behind Italy, France, Spain and the United States.
SA is consistently responsible for about 50 per cent of Australia’s annual production and 75pc of its premium wine.
There are 10 Great Wine Capitals with members, including Bordeaux in France, San Francisco/Napa Valley, US, Verona, Italy, Bilbao/Rioja, Spain, and Valparaiso/Casablanca Valley, Chile.