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The Cricket pitch is not the only place where New Zealand, Australia and England will be battling it out against 11 other teams including India and Pakistan at 14 venues, during the Cricket World Cup starting on this Saturday, 14th February. The 3 wine producing nations will also compete in a series of cricket-themed blind tastings this month to celebrate the start of the competition.
To kick-off the celebrations, New Zealand sparkling wine will compete with English sparkling wine in the “Battle of the Bubbles” on 19 February in Wellington. 12 wines from each country will be tasted blind by two teams, each headed by one Wine Captain. Jane Skilton MW will captain New Zealand with moral support from cricketing legend Stephen Fleming. The British wine super-star Oz Clarke will lead the English team, according to a New Zealand website.
New Zealand will face Australia in the “Trans-Tasman Wine Challenge” in Auckland on 26th February. Again, a line-up of wines from each nation will be tasted blind by two teams. Wine Captain Bob Campbell MW will be leading New Zealand into battle, with the Aussie wine expert, award-winning author & freelance writer Nick Stock rooting for Australia.
The cricket-related ‘friendly’ taste-off between the nations will showcase the diversity of New Zealand wine, said Chris Yorke, Global Marketing Director at New Zealand Winegrowers. “New Zealand produces a wide range of world-class wines, and the Cricket World Cup provides a fantastic backdrop for us to tell this story. All three nations are known for their sporting rivalry, and there’s nothing like a bit of healthy competition!” The results of both tastings will be announced at media events later in the day.
The events are a joint initiative between New Zealand Winegrowers, Tourism New Zealand, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, and Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development. It will hopefully include Indian wines in the distant future as we continue to improve in the wine game and become world-class. It would give a great opportunity for the Indians to showcase their wine capabilities besides our cricketing prowess.
It does not make any difference to us who wins the wine cup so long as we find a place in the finals of the tough race to win the Cricket Cup again after our second win last time in 2011. |