Cloudy Bay Founding Winemaker Kevin Judd Named 2026 NZ Winegrowers Fellow
Winemaking and photography each require an understanding of science, says Kevin Judd. But the final product is judged by someone else’s senses, “so they’re both an art”.
New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) sent each of the influencers two or three bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, along with other New Zealand products in conjunction with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), resulting in 249 stories, reels and posts on Instagram, with a reach of 2,127,600. Wine media, trade, lifestyle and wine tourism publications were also invited to make a "toast to Sauvignon Blanc Day", resulting in a global reach of 50,725,398 by mid-May, with coverage in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and an equivalent advertising value of $846,156NZD. NZTE's Project Harvest digital campaign - to reinvigorate Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in Australia - went live on 5 May to coincide with International Sauvignon Blanc Day, and will be live for five weeks.
NZW also ran campaigns in China, including a Mini-Market in Shanghai for 150 attendees, which included a 30 person seminar on Sauvignon Blanc. There were also retail activations across the two major provinces for New Zealand wine in Canada with both the LCBO and BCLDB running promotions. In the UK, independent retail was the target, with over 60 independent merchants participating in NZW's Indie Promo, designed to promote New Zealand wine in the more previous and diverse independent sector.
Felicity Turner, NZW's Global Education and Insights Manager, says the wine industry was supported with toolkits to help hem spread the Sauvignon word, with 220,530 impressions on social media, 11,368 engagements and 1,817 link clicks. "As a global leader in Sauvignon Blanc we are really proud to be a leading player in the international Sauvignon Blanc celebrations around the world, and keen to make it as easy as possible for our members to undertake global celebrations."
