Chloe Winter, January 23 2016
Hollywood’s finest will be enjoying a drop of Kiwi wine at this year’s prestigious Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Treasury Wine Estates’ New Zealand brand, Matua, and Australian brand, Beringer, will be served to the rich and famous at the event – now in its 22nd year.
Beringer’s 2013 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and 2014 Napa Valley Chardonnay will be on offer during the awards ceremony while Matua’s 2014 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and 2014 Marlborough Pinot Noir will be served at the party afterwards.
About 1200 bottles of wine would be on-hand for celebrities to indulge in.
Treasury Wine Estates spokeswoman Megghen Driscol said guests would drink about 100 cases of wine throughout the evening.
“That’s approximately 6000 glasses of wine.”
This is the company’s third year serving wine at the awards show, Driscol said.
“We were initially approached because the organiser wanted well-respected wines that were nationally distributed – both Beringer and Matua fit that bill perfectly.”
Two wine bars would serve only Beringer, and several full-service bars would pour Matua along with other beverages, she said.
When asked whether the celebrities enjoyed their wine, Driscol said: “Well, they go through 100 cases of premium wine in one night, so one would have to assume they enjoy it…
“We don’t want to name-drop, but I can say that that several celebrities ask for Beringer and Matua by name now, so we’ve certainly created awareness amongst this highly influential group of tastemakers.”
With big names like Leonardo Dicaprio, Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren, Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Rachel McAdams in attendance, brand exposure makes for great business.
“This truly is a win-win partnership.
“In addition to awareness and trial, we very much consider this to be a brand building activity which is always tough to score,” she said.
“However, we do leverage SAG content [through] our social media channels and see it as a great opportunity to build brand awareness amongst an influential group of people and create a buzz in the market.”
A few US-based Treasury Wine Estate’s staff get the honour of pouring the wine and educating the stars on the wines, she said.
The SAG awards are being held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on January 30.
– Stuff