Oxford Landing – part of Hill-Smith Family Estates – has become the official wine partner for The British & Irish Lions for their upcoming Lions Tour to Australia.
Most of the Oxford Landing production is sold through major retailers in the UK and Ireland.
Sourced from Riverland fruit, Oxford Landing is a household name there and the Sauvignon Blanc is the number one selling Australian Sauvignon Blanc in the market.
Oxford Landing will introduce a limited-edition wine label to celebrate the partnership, featuring a unique design which merges the distinctive elements of both the Oxford Landing and The British & Irish Lions brands for next summer’s tour.
The limited-edition label will be available in wine retailers in the UK and Ireland from 1 February 2025 and will appear on select products.
Executive director Marketing & Sales for Oxford Landing, Jack Glover says their Sauvignon Blanc will be one of these products.
“As the number one selling Australian Sauvignon Blanc in the UK, we are honoured to partner with the Lions in advance of next summer’s kick-off,” he says.
The first Test of the highly anticipated Tour to Australia will begin on Saturday 19 July at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the second Test on Saturday 26 July.
The final Test will be played in front of more than 80,000 fans at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday 2 August.
In preparation for the first Test, the Lions will face an invitational Australian and New Zealand team in Oxford Landing’s home state at Adelaide Oval, while the Tour will also include fixtures against Australian Super Rugby Pacific sides in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.
Tom Halsey, chief commercial officer of The British & Irish Lions, says, “We are delighted to welcome Oxford Landing as Official Wine Partner of The British & Irish Lions for next year’s Lions Tour to Australia and are excited to see this partnership come to life in stores throughout the UK and Ireland.
“We look forward to working with Oxford Landing to enable us to reach and engage both new and existing fans ahead of and during the Tour, which is one of the most eagerly anticipated in Lions history.”
Jack Glover adds, “We’re thrilled to bring the essence of this partnership to life through our commemorative wine label, bringing a taste of our Riverland home and iconic Australian wines to UK and Irish consumers as they support their team through this memorable Tour.
“Our philosophy is embedded in every decision we make, from choosing to bottle our wines in South Australia, to aligning ourselves with partners around the world like the Lions.
“The respect we share for our teammates, pride for our heritage, and dedication to fostering community in doing what we love every day.”
The late Wyndham Hill Smith purchased and developed the Oxford Landing property in 1958,and set about planting a vineyard.
Hill-Smith Family Estates is accredited by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia and a silver member of International Wineries for Climate Action.
Facts about Oxford Landing…
Estate bottled in Australia
Despite the constant pressure from UK retailers to bottle in the UK, the family has continued to make and bottle every one of its wines at the winery in South Australia. “This ensures traceability and guarantees authenticity, provenance, quality and consistency of our wine,” Jess Hill-Smith says. Importantly, we can provide employment for those in our community – this is about community sustainability. We are the only Australian brand in our competitor set (Yellowtail, Hardys and McGuigan) that does not bottle any of our wine in the UK market.”
Native vegetation
For every hectare of Oxford Landing vineyards, they have at least the equivalent area planted to native vegetation. In 2007, the family purchased 600 hectares of farmland next to the vineyard and devoted themselves to replanting and regenerating native flora and fauna, bringing life back to this region. Over 200,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted in a dedicated conservation area at Oxford Landing.
Sustainable packaging
Oxford Landing wines are packed in lightweight glass, recycled cartons and FSC certified paper labels. The transition to lightweight bottles has reduced their carbon output by approximately 170 tonnes per year and they are able to fit between eight to 14 percent more wine on each pallet, saving 83 tonnes of CO2 transport emissions.
Water
They recycle 100 percent of the winery wastewater across all of our Australian sites, repurposing this across the drought tolerant vines throughout Australia.
Sustainable Winegrowing Australia (SWA)
The Hill Smith family leads the way in Australia as one of the first brands to commit to SWA certification. “We have worked with our network of growers to ensure that our estate vineyards and our family growers are all 100 percent SWA certified,” says Jess. “Now, all Oxford Landing wines are SWA certified, bearing the SWA trust mark from the 2023 vintage.”
Photo: Lucy Hill-Smith with Elliot Daly from The British & Irish Lions.
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