Greetings from Chicago! As I write this, I am looking out the window of my hotel at a very foggy, humid and warm Chicago.
We started our trip on 2 September with an overnight stop in Guangzhou, China before catching the bullet train to Hong Kong for the Restaurant and Bar trade show on 4 and 5 September. The evening of the 3rd of September we did a wine dinner with the America Club – the food was amazing and was perfectly matched to the wines. We showed the 2018 Wayward Child Ilion and Bastion for the first time outside Australia, as well as 2016 Layla Chardonnay, 2018 Layla Pinot Noir and 2016 Alena Cabernet Sauvignon. Our importers, House of Fine Wine, worked very hard with the chef and his team to make sure our wines were presented at their very best.
The Restaurant and Bar Trade show was well attended and it was lovely to be able to talk to existing and potential customers. After the trade show, we headed back to Guangzhou for some meetings before heading off to San Francisco. We headed up to the Napa Valley on Saturday the 7th of September for a meeting and a quick visit to the Fairwinds Estate winery at Calistoga. They have a 22,000 square foot cave which I was very envious of – it is so big, they have put in a kitchen and event space.
Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 September were spent in New Hampshire with Sheila Sheehan from Circa Wines. Our visits to her clients were well received and it was great to see the surprise at the elegance and style of our wines. We are Brand Yarra Valley which means cool climate restraint. The most surprising visit was to the retail outlet of a slaughterhouse!! We followed our tasting with a walk through of the slaughterhouse, watching them process a massive piece of beef! I have to say this would have to be one of the most unusual places to stock our wines but Rick, the owner of Lemay and Sons, believes good wine is necessary to enjoy good meat.
We are now in Chicago and I spent yesterday in the trade with the delightful Courtney Weatherspoon from Novovino. We spent the day visiting smaller wine shops and restaurants spreading the Helen and Joey Estate love. I think we may even have converted Archie at Fine Wines in Lisle.
We are in Chicago until Sunday when we head to Connecticut to meet our new distributor, Angelini Wines. Then on to New York and LA before I head home. Stay tuned!
