2024, THE YEAR OF PINOT!

PERTH

My goodness we love Perth. Yes, it's a long way to go but for those who made the journey can attest, they really know how to bring the pinot party and the overall good times. Not only do they show up with a smile on their faces, but they come to spend and spend hard (and then thank you for it!).
The weather gods smiled brightly on us with 25 degree days in August which gave us the opportunity to utilize the entire outdoor space and further encourage sales on the day.

As a MOULD x Pinot Palooza, the overall sales breakdown was virtually 50/50 to cheese and wine but with a higher spend than last year up 10%.
This city continues to reward those who make the effort and in 2025, we’ll be moving to a larger space to accommodate the masses.
For those who make the journey, the other highlights are of course us hanging in the same hotel and the ‘party bus’ commute to and from the venue!

SYDNEY

We again kicked off the East Coast tour in Sydney at our traditional home at Carriageworks.
As always, Sydney brings the consistent party with us seeing virtually the same number of attendees as we did last year, and the two events previous.
The main difference is of course, they are spread over three sessions giving producers ample time to tell their story.

This was virtually a repeat of results from last year with each however, there was a boost in wine sales which is always good to see.
Of course the final Saturday afternoon session is always the pinot party and a reminder of what the Pinot Palooza vibe is all about.
A great way to kick off the east coast tour.

BRiSBANE

In the words of Nelly, “it’s getting hot in here” and sure, Brisbane was a warm one but for the locals, it was just another weekend of fun and festivities.
We know this town lurvs Pinot Noir and we also know they love cheese (potentially) even more. So, after a sell out at MOULD in May earlier in the year, we thought we’d roll out the combined “X” version and move up the road to the Exhibition Buildings.

The result? Our biggest event in the city ever and the highest average spend per person of the entire year. In fact, the saturday day session hit $176.50. Just. Wild.
In short, they came, they bought cheese and grabbed at least 2 bottles of wine, a heap of other loot and thanked you all on the way out. Happy days indeed!
Will we be doing this model again in 2025?
Heck. Yes as there is even more room to grow both from an attendee point of view, and producer.
Stay tuned!

MELBOURNE

“The sun always shines for Pinot Palooza in Melbourne” is something Dan loves to say on the regular.
Well it certainly did this time but brought the heat with it. Its rare for Melbourne to have two days of over 35 in a row and they just happened to land on our weekend.

The grand old dame of the Royal Exhibition Building does not have aircon (how could you cool it?) but it did have high ceilings which helped. But there is no denying, the heat hampered wine sales by as much as 20%.
As disappointing as that was, we’ve always believed Pinot Palooza is more than just wine sales. It's about connection and celebration, engagement and getting people in front of you.
And that we did with close to 3800 coming through the doors; the biggest of the tour and the highest attendance since 2018. That is something to celebrate indeed!!
It was also the first time since 2019 that we used the entire building which enabled ample space for all to spread out, take their time and enjoy the summer styled vibes.
And as the dance floor on the final session can attest, it was a vibe indeed.
All events mean a lot, but this one was extra special.

Consistently, Pinot Palooza attracts a younger audience every year with up to 55% under the age of 35 with 55-60% of that age group being women. Overall, the percentage of women is close to 60%.
What was also fascinating about this year was the large percentage of newcomers to the festival with close to 60% of ticket purchasers saying this year was their first time joining us.
So what does this mean?

A highly engaged, curious and purchase motivated audience keen to get to know the best makers of Pinot Noir going around.
They’re technically savvy, highly social and are looking for a greater type of wine experience.
They travel, are interested in exploring their own backyard (and beyond) and love to talk about it amongst their friends.

Word of mouth is still the most potent form of communication about our event followed by our own database and social channels.
Like everyone, their lives are busy, stressful and challenging so they’re looking for experiences outside of their world. And will spend it.
In short, it’s the audience we’ve always wanted.

Ok, get ready to get really really wine nerdy for never before have we had such transparency over what is happening on event days thanks to not only the sales on the day, but people's choice and more.
There is a huge amount of data from the campaign and we’ve done our best to provide you with what we believe is the most insightful and meaningful.

Alongside the various charts, do have to make note of some of the caveats mainly around the number of vendors as some regions were only represented by one or two.
But all in all, it shows a fascinating insight into the current state of play of Pinot Noir on the east coast of Australia, which regions wine drinkers are seeking, the styles they’re after, and the people and personalities they engage with.
What is the most exciting is seeing how our audience is seeking a broad range of wine styles and regions; discovery and access has always been a hallmark of Pinot Palooza.

It's also fascinating to see how Tasmania resonates so strongly with our audience.
Wonderful wines they are, yes, but from an activation and presence point of view, they’re leveraging - and frankly backing up - being a feature region last year.
Saying that, it’s also great to see how the feature regions also make the top three sales by region for each city.
Yep, there is much to deep dive in so enjoy!

NOTE: Perth is the MOULD x Pinot Palooza format where there are less producers and no wine bar so people purchase to consume on the day as well as for take home sales. But yes, put this city (and format) on your radar for 2024!

52% of ALL wine sales were made up by the Top 3 Regions.

Based on total wineries participating in each cities event, so no unique individual wineries.
Also, for our Kiwi brethren, note the impact of a such small amount of producers on wine sales!

*NOTE: USA, Ballarat, Robe and Mount Gambier were all single producers

There is no doubt the good Pinot Noir word was well spread this year thanks to our long standing comms agency, Common State. Despite the ever challenging media environment, as well as the focus of the referendum, the team managed to increase the reach from last year by 15%. Incredible.

The key focus this year was truly digital as lets face it, it’s where our audience lives and breathes. Online publications like Time Out, Broadsheet and Concrete Playground were key drivers of both awareness and ticket sales.
In addition, this was backed by key online articles (and in print) from Nine newspapers ahead of the main events such and an article in the Brisbane Times.

The key to digital reach is to drive traffic to the website then our performance marketing agency, Bolster, kicks in. Whilst facebook remains the dominant player in online advertising engagement, Instagram is catching up and fast, especially in terms of search.
It’s also why we partnered with the online-only, viral Instagram page, Secondz, ahead of Melbourne to drive last minute sales.
In short, there was simply so much on during October this year, so to get this media cut through was incredibly impressive.

SYDNEY

It was wonderful to see the region of Orange band together to activate for the first stop of the tour. In total, 9 wineries participated for a Pinot Noir showcase. With an ‘Instagram moment’ at the beginning of the 100+ square metres activation space, it was a great introduction to the wines of Orange plus seeing it in the top three of overall wine sales for the festival. Bam.

BRISBANE

Following last year's success, a swag of Tasmanians again descended on Brisbane to share their wine wares. Yet again, their sales dominated as Queenslanders made the most of their presence. They say consistency in markets is key and they certainly saw that in terms sales as Tasmania made up 40% of all wine sold throughout the festival. Huge.

MELBOURNE

Gippslandians united to highlight the best of this vast region. With support from Wine Gippsland, 10 wineries took part and took over the Northern nave of the Royal Exhibition Building.
But they didn’t come alone. They brought beer, cider and eats with them thanks to Sailors Grave Brewery, Gurneys Cider and Trulli Kitchen to round out the full regional experience. For every dollar spent at Pinot Palooza, 20% went to Gippsland products.
Considering the size and scale of the Melbourne event, this is a phenomenal achievement.

POST EVENT SURVEY RESULTS

SYDNEY

BRISBANE

The lower percentage here would be the result of Tasmania also being the feature region in the previous year. But still shows the activation is engaging new audiences.

MELBOURNE

They came. They tasted. They voted.
And with over 205 different Pinot Noirs on tasting throughout the tour, there was certainly plenty to get their mouth around.

We again went fully digital with our a web based application which noted all the wines that were on tasting by city. All they had to do was load it on their phone, choose the city and find and ‘like’ and or ‘favourite’ a wine and or winery. Even better, users were able to create their own ‘pinot playlist’ of the wines they loved and email it to themselves for later reference.
Heck, they could even write tasting notes if they so wished.
The results?
It meant loads of votes and Peoples Choice was based on overall wine votes / likes and or ‘favouriting’ of the producer themselves.

So … *drumroll*

TOP 10 WINERIES BY CITY

With a return to our traditional spring time schedule for the East Coast of Australia, we’re back on schedule yet looking to spread the tour out a little more. In addition, we’re heading back to PERTH in August and we (some would say ‘finally’) return to Adelaide under the MOULD X Pinot Palooza umbrella.

So lock these dates in your diaries and follow the link below to register your interest and receive further updates / prospectus when available (March).

NEW ZEALAND
SINGAPORE
JAPAN and beyond

We know its been too long between festivals in these cities, and we long to return, but for now we are putting on hold any major plans for festivals outside Australia. Saying that, we are looking at smaller, more ‘UnPlugged” style events in Singapore later in 2024. More to come.

MOULD X Pinot Palooza

This hybrid event combines the powers of both the MOULD A Cheese Festival brand with the fun of Pinot Palooza. By doing so it not only allows us to service the smaller capital cities but increase attendee numbers without compromising the overall event experience for both guest and producer alike. It also means greater average sales per producer.
Trialled in Hobart in 2022, we ran it in Perth in 2023 to great success confirming the concept. Originally planned to be run every two years in smaller capital cities, Perth proved the exception to the rule and will be run annually. Adelaide is confirmed for this year as well as (potentially) Hobart later in the year.