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Black Chalk and Wine GB recreate social media push

Following last year’s inaugural – and inadvertent – #theBIGenglishwinegoodfriday, which saw producers take part in a flurry of social media activity encouraging consumers to purchase wines from their local vineyards, its successor, #BigEnglishWineEaster aims to broaden its reach across the wine trade and support those most in need.

The focus of this year’s incarnation will be a social media takeover, with winemakers, the trade at large and wine lovers, encouraged to open a bottle of English wine and share a photo or video, with the hashtags #bigenglishwineeaster and #BEWE, between 7pm and 8pm on 3 April. 

The campaign will preview from 22 March with a series of online events and social media posts hosted by English wine supporters, with producers this year invited to contribute a percentage of their sales over the weekend to two charities: The Drinks Trust and Hospitality Action. 

A raffle with contributions from English producers is set raise further funds. 

Leadley said he was keen to get the wider UK wine industry involved this year, with retailers and those restaurants able to operate invited to take part.  

“2020 was all about supporting English wineries who, as a result of the lockdown, were deprived of sales and tourism revenue. As 2020 progressed, many producers saw significant sales growth as British consumer embraced their domestic wine industry. We feel there are other sectors of the UK drinks industry who now need our support, specifically the on-trade, which has been hardest hit by the pandemic and the resulting lockdowns. We hope to raise vital funds to help ensure the future of this essential sector of our industry,” said Leadley.  

Julia Trustram Eve, marketing manager of WineGB, added: “This is a fantastic initiative that brings together our wine community to not only celebrate our wonderful wines but also support those affected across both our own and associated industries, particularly those in the on-trade over the last year. We hope as many vineyards as possible will join this celebration on social media and encourage their customers, supporters and followers to do the same.”

Already on board, Roger Jones of Little Bedwyn will create a bespoke English produce takeaway menu paired with English wines for the Easter weekend. He will also produce a similar menu with recipes to match suggested styles of English wines which consumers can follow. 

Last year's initiative reached 13 million consumers.

• wine
• English wine
• Easter
• Wine GB
• Black Chalk
• Coronavirus
• Covid-19
• pandemic
• Jacob Leadley