Visitors to winery cellar doors across Australia will now have access to tasting tracker ‘scratchies’ and other education resources to help them keep tabs on their consumption and better understand how many tastings equate to a standard drink.
Launched in Victoria by Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, the Stay tasteful while tasting initiative is a partnership between DrinkWise, The National Wine Foundation and Australian Grape and Wine.
Stay tasteful while tasting resource packs – including the innovative ‘scratchie cards’ – are being distributed to over 1,800 cellar doors and tourism associations across Australia as part of the initiative, with the assistance of regional winery associations.
Federal Minister for Health the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, said the education packs are a great tool to ensure that visitors to local wine regions have a safe and enjoyable experience.
“This is a vital initiative from DrinkWise and Australian Grape & Wine to help Australians better track their alcohol consumption when visiting cellar doors and wine festivals on the Mornington Peninsula and across the country,” Minister Hunt said.
“With wineries typically located a long drive away from cities, it’s imperative that wine tasters know how much they’re consuming in order to make responsible choices”.
DrinkWise CEO Simon Strahan said the education campaign is aimed at helping consumers make better choices when tasting wines.
“In order to promote a healthier drinking culture, we need to continually provide education campaigns about alcohol,” Mr Strahan said.
“DrinkWise works with the industry to deliver these important messages when people are purchasing or consuming alcohol and this partnership with Australian Grape & Wine is a vital component in educating Australians who choose to consume alcohol, to do so in a healthier and safer way.”
“With Australians holidaying locally, we want to remind everyone to moderate their consumption if they are out visiting cellar doors and tasting wines,” Strahan said.
To help more people make responsible choices, the initiative has also been expanded beyond cellar doors, with the scratchies and digital resources available to festivalgoers at next months Peninsula Piers & Pinots wine festival on the Flinders foreshore.
Australian Grape & Wine CEO, Tony Battaglene, added: “We’ve been absolutely delighted to see so many people visit cellar doors and wine festivals again after the challenges of the last couple of years.
“This new resource and education pack is the perfect way to display to consumers what they need to know to help them make the responsible choice and track their tastings when visiting cellar doors and wine festivals around the country.”
Mornington Peninsula Wine CEO, Olivia Barrie said “The Mornington Peninsula is home to some of Australia’s great wines and tourism is an essential contributor to our economy. It’s been a difficult period for our cellar doors and we’re excited to welcome everyone back.
“These resources assist our local wineries to educate our visitors and help them to make responsible choices. Consumer education and duty of care are really important to all of us, so we are actively encouraging all wine businesses in Victoria to use these resources in their cellar doors”.
