New era for Houghton classic
By Wine Atlas, Wednesday 30 November 2005 :: Wine - Australia :: #88 :: rss
It was out with the old and in with the new during November as Houghton Wines made two important decisions about its future.
On the one hand David Woods, CEO of parent wine company Hardy Wines, and Houghton senior winemaker Rob Bowen were on hand to officially open the winery’s new cellar door facility.
On the other, Houghton’s White Classic was announced as the new name of Houghton’s White Burgundy.
Both events will prove pivotal for Houghton’s viability in the coming decades of growth for the Western Australian wine business.
Having decided to expand its base of operations in the Swan Valley, Houghton unveiled its $1 million cellar door facility on November 20.
A dramatic increase in visitor numbers forced Houghton to revamp its existing resource, making this new work the biggest growth in more than two decades.
Houghton’s new cellar door opened about two months after its Swan Valley neighbour, Sandalford, finished a similarly grandiose upgrade of its Swan Valley facility. (As Gusto reported in October, in a direct move to capture a corporate market now increasingly enamoured with the Swan Valley, Sandalford recently finished construction of a 300-seat underground cellar.)
So there was perhaps in no better place than its gleaming new facilities for Houghton to introduce the wine community to the new Houghton’s White Classic.
Houghton’s hand was forced as far back as 1994, when a trade agreement between Australia and the European Community was signed. The Trade in Wine, and Protocol Agreement committed this country to respect French Geographic Indications regarded as sacred to the French wine industry.
From that moment, notice was served on all producers using names such as ‘Burgundy’. According to the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, other names also on the hit list include chablis, Champagne, claret, graves, marsala, moselle and sauternes.
Wine Industry Association of Western Australia CEO Sue Vidovich says it is only a matter of time until names such as port and sherry disappear from Australian wine labels and vernacular.
“The rebranding is much better for the consumer,” Mrs Vidovich told Gusto. “By removing these names and replacing them with generic terms, the consumer knows exactly what they are getting in the bottle.”
Continue reading : wabusinessnews.com.au
