Wine marketplace Unovino, which launched a year ago to support independent Australian winemakers, has crafted a new ‘remote cellar door’ concept which can turn every bar and restaurant in Australia into a cellar door.
Brisbane wine bar Adelita is the first in the country to trial the concept, which allows diners to turn a glass of wine they are enjoying into a delivery of 6 or 12 bottles sent directly to their home from the winemaker.
The restaurant or wine bar also gains a marketing commission for ongoing sales from any customers who continue to shop direct from the winery off the back of their initial recommendation.
Adelita owner Chris Hollingsworth said it was a fantastic concept that was encouraging diners to try more Australian wine and also boosting sales for the restaurant.
“We’ve been trialling Unovino’s remote cellar door technology for a month and it is now making up about 10% of our wine sales as diners take advantage of the opportunity to sample a few excellent drops from Riversdale in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley. We are forever being asked where our wines are from and how diners can get their hands on more of what they’re drinking. This innovative new system allows them direct access to the winemaker without having to travel to a cellar door, or scour bottle shop shelves where they aren’t likely to find these special, small-batch wines,” Chris said.
Brisbane-based Unovino Managing Director Adam Coward said it was going to be massive for the independent wine industry, with financial flow-ons for the hospitality industry.
“In its first year, Unovino has helped boutique wineries sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of wine, helping to keep the independent industry alive and generate new income streams for wineries, bars and restaurants during these tough times,” he said.
Unovino is a platform built by wine-lovers for wine-lovers, bringing the cellar door to the front door by allowing consumers to buy premium wines that are typically either Cellar Door-only, exclusive to Unovino or can’t be found anywhere else.
The number one (uno) mission of the wine (vino) platform is to support independent Australian winemakers by bringing them all together in one place and making it easy for wine enthusiasts to order from multiple wineries without visiting multiple cellar doors.