Brancott Estate helped revolutionise the wine industry when they pioneered Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in 1975. Now they are looking for the next pioneer in the wine industry with the announcement of winexplorer, an innovation challenge designed to fundamentally change the way wine is enjoyed.
“When we decided to plant Sauvignon Blanc vines in Marlborough in 1975, we created one of the world’s most popular wine styles and turned New Zealand into one of the world’s premier wine growing regions. Now we are looking to change the wine world again by identifying ideas that will fundamentally change the way people enjoy wine,” says Patrick Materman, Brancott Estate Chief Winemaker and one of the winexplorer judges.
“Whether it’s an idea about how people choose what wine to drink, or how they share that wine with their friends, if it’s big, bold and revolutionary, then we want to hear it.”
Open to entrants in Australia and New Zealand, winexplorer innovation challenge will see Brancott Estate work with start-up specialist BlueChilli to identify five finalists. These ideas will be shared via social media with consumers invited to vote for their favourite ideas. This will form a part of the judging criteria for when the finalists pitch their ideas to a panel of judges on 7 April, 2016.
“We’re seeing a significant shift in the way in which companies and entire industries innovate now, where involving customers in the creation process and getting the end user to co-design great solutions is the new norm,” says Colette Grgic, GM for Innovation at BlueChilli. “While there have been significant advances in winemaking, the consumer area of wine consumption is ripe for new ideas and we are excited to be helping entrepreneurs to turn their big idea into a viable business opportunity through winexplorer.”
On offer is a cash prize of $35,000 AU$ and, depending on the idea, the winning idea will also be considered for startup acceleration by BlueChilli and have the opportunity to work with Brancott Estate to commercialise their idea.
To be eligible to enter, entrants need to be able to articulate how their idea will revolutionise the way people enjoy wine, why they believe they are best placed to make their idea successful and what level of support they need to bring their idea to reality. All entries are submitted online at brancottestate.com between 4 February and 6 March 2016.
