25 May 2009
Hot Red Hawke’s Bay Gets a Makeover
New Zealand’s number one red wine exhibition, Hot Red Hawke’s Bay, has had a makeover.
This year’s event sees a few changes being made in order to enhance the quality of an already outstanding and successful exhibition.
“As the event had grown over the years we have identified areas for improvement. It’s not that we were particularly unhappy with anything we were doing, we just felt we could do things even better,” says Lyn Bevin, Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc. Executive Officer.
Like any successful exhibition, increased audience and participant numbers are one of the measures of accomplishment. However, the hosts of Hot Red Hawke’s Bay have made the well considered decision to this year limit ticket numbers for each event to just 200.
“We made the decision based on feedback we received from both the participating wineries and the audience of previous years. The majority attend for the opportunity to not only taste the best red wines Hawke’s Bay has to offer but also to speak with the winemakers themselves in order to gain further insight into the specific wines,” says Lyn.
This move will not only allow for good communication opportunities between winemakers and wine tasters, but will also ensure the atmosphere maintains its confident yet warm and friendly mood.
“We want our audience to feel they are gaining value from the event. Some view their ticket as an investment and we appreciate that many attend with a purpose,” adds Lyn.
The organisers have also moved this year’s exhibition dates to July in order to accommodate the region’s busy winemakers.
“Up until now the show has been held during the first weeks of May, however we had some concern that this date was too close to the end of the vintage, and that it also clashed with a number of important international activities.”
The July dates will make room for wineries to more fully concentrate on the show.
New venues with more space have also been sourced in each centre, steering the event clear of hot and noisy surroundings, characteristic of many expos.
“With the increased number of wineries participating in the show we have had to create more space for them to showcase their products. More wineries has meant larger audience numbers over the past few years and we want to ensure our guests enjoy a pleasant wine tasting experience,” says Lyn.
Hot Red Hawke’s Bay is being held in Christchurch at Christchurch Town Hall on Tuesday July 7; in Wellington at The Duxton Hotel on Wednesday July 8; and in Auckland at Heritage Hotel on Thursday July 9.
General admission tickets are $35 which includes a special Hot Red wine glass, free tastings of all wines, and full catalogue of all wines and wineries. Tickets for the public can be purchased online through www.winehawkesbay.co.nz and at selected wine retailers in Wellington and Christchurch. Details are available on the website.
Hospitality trade and media can register online at no charge.
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