SHANGHAI, AUGUST 12 – ASC Fine Wines (“China’s Greatest Fine Wine Importer” – Robert Parker Jr.) is pleased to announce 2 milestones for Wolf Blass – one of Australia’s most iconic and well-known wineries – the 75th Birthday celebration of founder Mr. Wolfgang Blass (more commonly known as “Mr. Wolf Blass”) plus the recent honouring as International Red Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge in London.
Wolf Blass has been distributed by ASC Fine Wines in China in the past 10 years, during which time, the original philosophy of Mr. Wolf Blass and the brand’s ongoing commitment to ‘quality, character and consistency’ has flourished under the leadership of current Chief Winemaker Chris Hatcher.
To celebrate his 75th Birthday, Mr. Wolf Blass will be descending upon the cities of Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hangzhou from September 23rd to September 29th, 2009. Joined by Wolf Blass Global Brand Ambassador, Mr. George Samios, Mr. Wolf Blass will host high-profile gala dinners in venues like Ritz Carlton, Beijing, Futian Shangri-la, Shenzhen, Grand Hyatt, Shanghai and JiangNan Hui, Hangzhou. The overall celebration will include VIP red carpets, live shoulder ballet and sand animation show entertainment and very importantly a tasting of Wolf Blass’ iconic Black Label. As just one example of Mr. Wolf Blass’ commitment to China, proceeds from the dinners will be donated to Compassion for Migrant Children – a non-profit organization founded in 2006 to help China’s urban migrant children through the ASC Charity Fund.
Hailed as the “Golden Boy” of the Australian wine industry, Mr. Wolf Blass is known globally for his revolutionary winemaking and marketing practices, including positioning Wolf Blass on the wine map as the four time winner of Australia’s most prestigious wine award – The Jimmy Watson Trophy – for the Wolf Blass Black Label blend in 1974, 1975, 1976 and later in 1999. Today Wolf remains as an international ambassador for the brand and the chairman of the Wolf Blass Foundation.
In addition to the gala dinners, China has just capped off a series of 3 other high-profile activities for the celebration of Wolf’s 75th Birthday:
Super Premium Release (April 2009)
The newest vintages of Wolf Blass’ Super Premium wines – consisting of the Grey Label Shiraz, Grey Label Cabernet Sauvignon, Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz and Platinum Label Shiraz – were released in April and represent the apex of the winery’s production. In describing the latest super premium wines, Chief Winemaker Chris Hatcher believes this is one of the strongest collections of wines released under the label.
Sourced from low yielding vineyards in the Barossa Valley, Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale, the 2005 Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz represents the heart and soul of the Wolf Blass portfolio.
Chris regards the latest release of Black Label as an exceptional wine, with a superb concentration of fruit flavours and great cellaring ability: “The outstanding succession of six Gold medals for the 2005
Black Label, including a recent Gold at the 2009 Sydney Royal Wine Show is a testament to the passion and hard work of the entire Wolf Blass winemaking team and our ability to source the best parcels of fruit from multiple regions across South Australia.”
Crafted exclusively from Barossa Shiraz, the 2006 Wolf Blass Platinum Label Shiraz epitomizes the best of the variety, vineyard and vintage. “This is the ninth year of the Platinum Label and its intensity of colour, structure and long, well integrated tannins, is one of the finest releases we have seen. The 2006 vintage was a superior year and the resultant Platinum Label positions itself strongly alongside the pinnacle styles from ‘98, ‘02 and ‘04 vintages,” said Chris.
As a pioneer to sourcing of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Langhorne Creek wine region, the 2007 Wolf Blass Grey Label Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon this year celebrates 40 years of winemaking history. A beautiful full bodied quintessential Cabernet Sauvignon, the Grey Label showcases the true regional style, with its rich berry aromas, a slight mintiness and great opulent palate structure.
The 2007 Wolf Blass Grey Label McLaren Vale Shiraz pairs beautifully with the power and elegance of the 2007 Grey Label Cabernet Sauvignon. Lower yields and smaller volumes from the 2007 vintage, enabled the selection of outstanding fruit quality for both wines and the crafting of two beautifully structured styles approachable on release, whilst offering the ability to age gracefully from careful cellaring.
Ben Higgs Gold Label Tour (June/July 2009)
Visiting Australian chef, Mr. Ben Higgs, also played his part in celebrating the Wolf Blass 75th Birthday by stopping off to Dongguan (Grand Hotel), Shanghai (Westin Bund Centre) and finally Beijing (Ritz-Carlton Hotel) for a series of Wolf Blass cooking promotions.
The quintessential Australian chef, Ben owns and operates his own restaurant and cooking school, named Wild Oak, in the stunning Yarra Valley wine region, south east of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Ben is passionate about using fresh and unique produce from his native homeland to produce flavor driven, modern Australian cuisine, and shared this passion with wine and food aficionados during his recent trip to China.
All dishes during the promotions were paired with the Gold Label wines from Wolf Blass – a premium proposition of emerging grape varieties, groundbreaking winemaking techniques and the most progressive regional styles from one of Australia’s most famed wineries including a Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra and Shiraz from the Barossa Valley.
Red & Yellow Summer Party (July 2009)
What do Aussie lifeguards and surfer girls, bowties and bikinis, have in common? Guests found out the answer as they joined the Wolf Blass Red & Yellow Summer Party, hosted on July 11, 2009 at the famous Sasha’s in Shanghai, and were entertained by live music, international DJ’s and fire dance performers.
The outdoor garden was turned into a Australian beach and while summer temperatures scorched up to the 40’s, guests were refreshed by wines from the Wolf Blass Red & Yellow Labels – wines made for all occasions and representing the 2 top-sellers from the Wolf Blass portfolio.
Do you know?
Wolf Blass Wines was established in the Barossa Valley in 1966, grown from humble beginnings to be the number one still bottled wine brand in Australia and a leading wine brand in over 50 international markets including Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Wolf Blass has a tradition of quality, character and consistency from the highly noted Platinum Label, majestic Black Label plus the regionally stylistic Grey Label Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon，through to delicate Rieslings and crisp Chardonnays. It is a brand recognised on global scale as the maker of the finest premium wines and an icon of modern winemaking and innovative marketing practices.
