Shoalhaven Wineries lead the way in use of social media and harvest technologies

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Shoalhaven wineries are leading the way in the use of social media in Australia to attract new visitors to wineries and investing heavily in new equipment in their ongoing quest to develop high quality, market leading wines.

Rajarshi Ray, owner of the dual branded Silos Estate and Wileys Creek wineries commented "We were the first winery in Australia to develop a Twitter presence, and this has attracted a whole new range of people – local and overseas — finding out about us and the South Coast region." He added, "Earlier this year, we preceded this by being amongst the first wineries in Australia to have a Facebook and Skype presence. These tools allow us to engage with customers and visitors alike in an ongoing conversation about our wineries — and the wine region as a whole."

Further down the coast, Louise Cole, owner of Cambewarra Estate pointed to the use of mechanical harvesters for their picking season as key to the improvement in their wine quality in recent years. "Not only has the cost of labour been reduced, but most importantly the crushing can now be done on site before we send to our winemaker as picking is so much faster. This makes a dramatic difference to the quality of the end product," she said.

"It has been so successful other winemaking regions are now using our equipment to make a similar level of improvement in their wines" she added.

Tom Phillips, tourism manager for the Shoalhaven said “the Shoalhaven offers a unique package for visitors – the beaches, the mountains, exceptional accommodation and amazing wine. The quality of the wines and the innovative ways in which our wineries are using technology has contributed to the Shoalhaven wine region being amongst the only in Australia to record double digit growth in visitations in 2008/09.”