There is nothing more satisfying than seeing all your efforts and passion come to fruition through some level of acknowledgment. 

Acknowledgement comes in different ways, and in our case it ranges from being at a restaurant and seeing the table next to you be delivered a bottle of your wine, to things such as awards and nominations for achievements in your field.

This week, we found out that our National distributor and International exporter, Estate Wines was nominated in the 2011 Premier's Export Awards in one of 5 categories, which have not yet been announced. Just the thought of wine drinkers in all parts of the world sharing our wine not only excites us,  but motivates us to continue to produce a high quality product that our consumers have come to expect.

However exporting isn't just about taking orders and shipping them off to various exotic parts of the world, it is an area filled with paperwork, logistics, meticulous planning and rules and regulations (according to country) that if things aren't done correctly, your goods could be stuck at customs for months on end.

You think travelling overseas and ensuring you have no sharp objects (do tweezers count?), flammables (deodorant?) and a toiletry bag that contains all liquids under 100ml (ditch that moisturiser now before airport security does) was difficult and confusing? Try sending products for consumption to other countries... Its not easy.

When Joanne Papanikitas accepted the role of Export Manager, she realised pretty quickly it wasn't just a glamorous life of travelling the globe promoting our brands. 

Along with our Managing Director, she is the person responsible from all things export, from Sales and Marketing to waving our container goodbye while it leaves our shores.

Of course, once it arrives at its destination, the success of our brands lay completely in the hands of our fabulous distributors, who work closely with our Export team to ensure they have what they require to adequately promote our products. 

On October 20th, we'll find out whether, as new exporters, Estate Wines have won an award, and if they haven't, we are still incredibly proud for being nominated. Joanne and her team have done a phenomenal job getting our brand out there and these are great signs that all is looking pretty rosy when it comes to the global attraction of Stonefish. Well done!

In other news, we are super pleased to announce our enormous success at the highly acclaimed FBAT Wine Challenge, in where two of our Stonefish Varietals were overall winners in Premium Categories. Both Stonefish Sauvignon Blanc 2010 and Stonefish Shiraz 2006 took the gongs for both premium awards so we are incredibly proud and privileged to not only have been a part of the challenge, but to have won. 

Thank you.