Australia's First Families of Wine

Australia's First Families of Wine
Abbreviation AFFW
Motto Twelve of the most celebrated family names in Australian wine have come together to form Australia's First Families of Wine – an initiative to take the heart and soul of Australian wine to the world.
Formation 2009
Headquarters Australia
Affiliations Winemakers Federation of Australia
Website www.australiasfirstfamiliesofwine.com.au

Australia's First Families of Wine is an Australian wine initiative to raise the profile of Australian wine to the world, showcasing a representative of its landmark wines and to highlight the quality and diversity of Australian wine. Established by a collective of twelve multi-generational family-owned wine producers. Together the families represent seventeen wine-growing regions across Australia and forty-eight generations of winemakers. It was officially launched at the Sydney Opera House on 31 August 2009 by former Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.[1][2][3][4][2][5][2][6][7]

Contents

Members

The inaugural members of Australia's First Families of Wine are:

Criteria

The main criteria that the family-owned companies need are:

Mission statement

First Families chairman and fourth generation winemaker and Tahbilk chief executive Alister Purbrick stated: "We desperately need to change the global perception of Australian wine. We don't believe as individual companies we can stem the avalanche of news stories about Australia producing nothing but cheap industrial wines. But together we can present a powerful showcase of terrific regional wines of great diversity." Some industry commentators lay the blame for this negative opinion on the giant, publicly listed multinational corporations, such as Constellation Wines and Foster's, which have dominated the industry for years and concentrated on the cheap commodity end of the market rather than building the reputation of Australia's finer, regionally distinctive wines. "While as family winemakers we all value our independence, we do share a common vision - that Australian wine can take on the world's best and win," Purbrick said.[2][8]

“ Nowhere else in the world could such a group be assembled, their history told both through the mouths of the family members and the wines they present. The underlying rationale for the formation of Australia's First Families of Wine was the realization that export markets had either lost sight of or had no way of knowing about Australia's rich history, it's diverse regions and wine styles, and the fierce personal commitment of the best winemakers to the production of high-quality wines true to their variety and geographical origin...The challenges for Australia are clear enough. What Australia's First Families of Wine can and will do is turn words into actions, ambitions into concrete results. ”

—James Halliday, Heart & soul: Australia's First Families of Wine (2010)

History of concept

The concept is based on similar initiative launched nearly 20 years ago when a group of the Europe's leading family wineries formed an association called Primum Familiae Vini, (PFV abbreviated often, German: Best families of the wine), and replicated a few years ago in New Zealand with its Family of Twelve.[11]

Books and media

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Funding First Families of Wine to boost exports
  2. ^ a b c d The Australian: Our wines need to step up in class
  3. ^ Grant to promote Aussie wines abroad
  4. ^ Agri Business Australia
  5. ^ a b c Graeme Lofts (2010). Heart & soul : Australia's First Families of Wine. John Wiley & Sons Australia. ISBN 9781742469249. 
  6. ^ a b c Simon Evans, The Australian Financial Review, Tuesday 18 August 2009, Page 61
  7. ^ a b c Chris Snow, Decanter Magazine, 17 August 2009, Top Australian wineries team up to push super-premium wines
  8. ^ a b "The Heart & Soul of Australian wine to launch in Sydney on Monday 31 August". Winetitles, Australia's wine industry portal. http://www.winebiz.com.au/dwn/details.asp?ID=2691. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
  9. ^ "First Families forge pact to promote wine". Jamie Freed, Business Day. http://business.watoday.com.au/business/first-families-forge-pact-to-promote-wine-20090817-ends.html. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
  10. ^ "Australia's first families team up". Ken Gargett, Meininger's wine business international. http://wine-business-international.com/News_Australia-s_first_families_team_up.html. Retrieved 2009-08-21. 
  11. ^ Ray Jordan, The West Australian, Saturday 5 September 2009, page 70