DAN SIMS GOOD TIME WINES
“It’s not often you get an opportunity to completely rethink something.”
DAN SIMS was on holiday in Thailand when Eventbrite, the company that manages ticket sales for Dan’s stable of wine and food events, including Pinot Palooza and MOULD Cheese Festival, called to tell him they were pausing payments because of the coronavirus. It was March 2020, and although Covid was spreading rapidly around the world, Australia was yet to really feel its impact. “Until I got that phone call,” Dan says. “That’s when I knew my business was gone.”
If you’re not familiar with it, Pinot Palooza is a pinot noir-focused festival which Dan ran – before Covid – in multiple cities across Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore. Against a backdrop of loud music and good food, festivalgoers chat to, and sample wine directly from, producers. “To replicate that at home was going to be hard,” he says.
Dan did run a virtual Palooza event, with live-streamed DJ sets and live crosses to producers. But it was the wine-tasting component of his pivot that provided the lifeline he needed. To stay true to the Palooza brand, and to capture the essence of the event, which is
“to taste as many different wines as possible in a fun environment,” Dan created the 12-Track – 12 different pinot noirs from reputable producers such as Charteris and Ghost Rock Wines repackaged into 150ml cans – and sent it out to ticketholders.
The format worked so well that Dan, in collaboration with Luke McKinnon, founder and director of communications agency Common State, launched a separate line of canned wines called Good Time Wines.
“The premise is really basic,” Dan says. “A red, white and a rosé made by great winemakers, and just make it fun.”
The first release was made up of wines from Gippsland-based Moondarra, Mornington Peninsula-based Garagiste and BK Wines from Adelaide Hills. The plan is to change it up seasonally, and to incorporate new styles, such as a light red for summer.
As well as their potential from a festival perspective, Dan sees canned wine – particularly in 150ml sizes, as “it’s a glass of wine,” – working well in hotel mini-bars or on airlines. He also sees potential from a wine subscription perspective, as the format allows drinkers to sample multiple examples.
While Covid wasn’t in his business plan, Dan is largely positive when reflecting on the past two years. “It’s not often you get an opportunity to completely rethink something.”