NSW Wine Festival | Feb 26 to March 31 2011

Media Release

2011 set for Wine & Food Heaven!

NSW Wine Festival ~ Feb 26 – March 31, 2011

NSW wines are set to star at the annual NSW Wine Festival launching February 26, 2011. Every year New South Wales toasts its most talented winemakers and award-winning wines with a collection of exciting public tastings and dinners in Sydney. This year the celebrations will be bigger and better than ever with the newly named NSW Wine Festival (formerly NSW Wine Week) hosting even more ways to discover the delicious wine and food produce from New South Wales’ 14 diverse wine regions.

It is no coincidence that 2011 rhymes with ‘heaven’, as this year’s month-long program is set to be the most tantalizing and tasty ever seen!

·      Sydney Cellar Door – February Sat 26 & Sun 27, 2011 (11am-6pm) – kicks off the festival as in previous years, but this year for the first time visitors will have a full weekend to enjoy even more wine styles, accompanied by all-day live music and cool entertainment, creating a world-class festival atmosphere.

To join the 100 or so winemakers that will be bringing their favourite drops to our fair city, the State’s best producers and providores, and Sydney greatest restaurateurs will provide more dishes than ever to complement your wines perfectly.

One thing that hasn’t changed is it will once again be set in one of Sydney’s most beautiful alfresco (and convenient) settings, Hyde Park, and it is still free to enter (with tasting packages starting at just $25).

This year’s Sydney Cellar Door is set to be our State’s premier Wine & Food Fair and cement its position as the ‘must attend’ cultural event on the Sydney calendar.

·      Dine with NSW Wine – February 28 to March 31, 2011

Can’t attend the Sydney Cellar Door on the weekend of the 26th & 27th? Well you can now explore the best our state has to offer during the whole of March 2011, with special wine-matched menus at participating restaurants throughout NSW. Celebrate the NSW Wine Festival at lunch or dinner, from just $30-$50 including wine. Participating restaurants will be listed on www.nswwine.com.au

·      Tour NSW Wine Regions Dinners – selected dates throughout March, 2011

And don’t miss the very special Tour NSW Wine Regions Dinners! A series of unique degustation dinners – made from exclusively NSW produce and matched to the finest NSW wines – hosted by leading food and wine personalities at four specially-selected top Sydney restaurants. For more details see www.nswwine.com.au

So why so many great improvements when these events have already been sell-out successes since their launch in 2008?

New Chair of the NSW Wine Strategy, James Agnew explains, “We have a lot to celebrate this year! The latest Nielsen figures* show that sales of NSW bottled wines, within NSW, have grown a staggering 22% or $14.3 million on the previous year, to reach a record $79.3 million. This outstrips the State’s growth of only 0.8% in the same period and shows that people are really embracing the quality and personality of our local wines. This phenomenal support is truly appreciated by the NSW wine industry and we are happy to give a little back. The new 2011 NSW Wine Festival is the ultimate way to meet all the well-known names in the wine and food industries, as well as discover the true secret gems our State has to offer.”

*31 August 2010 MAT Nielsen data

NSW’s 14 diverse wine regions are: Canberra, Cowra, Gundagai, Hastings River, Hilltops, Hunter Valley, Mudgee, New England, Orange, Perricoota, Riverina, Shoalhaven, Southern Highlands and Tumbarumba.

For full program details see www.nswwine.com.au