WINERIES in the Grampians and Pyrenees regions have shared in state government grants worth $200,000 to help grow tourism and business opportunities.
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Member for Western Victoria Jaala Pulford, also the Victorian Regional Development Minister, announced the cash help for 10 wineries during a visit to the Blue Pyrenees winery near Avoca on Friday.
Grampians Estate winery at Great Western received a grant to develop a feasibility study for the extension of its cellar door.
The Grampians Tourism and Visit Ballarat groups will use their funding to hire a project manager to implement its Grampians Pyrenees Wine Tourism and Culinary Master Plan.
Pyrenees Grape growers and Winemakers Association received money to promote the 2018 Avoca Wine and Food Festival.
Ms Pulford said the grants would help maximise export and marketing opportunities.
“Wine from the Grampians and Pyrenees region is loved in Victoria and across the nation and is renowned for its quality – now we’re taking it to the world,” Ms Pulford said.
The grants were provided through round two of the state government’s Wine Growth Fund.
One of the smaller wineries on the list of recipients, SubRosa at Eversley, will use its $10,000 grant for digital marketing upskilling and a website upgrade.
The winery grows more high-end varieties such as viognier and nebbiolo to restaurants, specialty bottle shops and direct to consumers.
SubRosa co-owner Nancy Panter said the winery did not have a cellar door and its improving its online presence would be key to generating more sales.
“Creating awareness online will help us to build our brand,” she said.
“We applied for a grant to assist with some digital marketing training and to re-do our website.
“We don’t have a cellar door that people can visit, so our website is our cellar door.
“In order to grow our business, we need to work on our marketing and digital positioning.”
Ms Panter said the grants would help the Grampians and Pyrenees wine regions.
“It’s really a great opportunity for wineries to grow their businesses,” she said.
“For us, it was a project that we wanted to do but now we will prioritise it thanks to the grant.
“It’s great for the region as it encourages business to do projects that they might not have got around to.”