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News
Villa Maria celebrates Wilderness Festival success
New Zealand’s Villa Maria has hailed the success of its ‘Open Another World’ Summer promotional campaign following its partnership with the sixth Wilderness Festival.
Guests at the Wilderness Festival in Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, were able to sample Villa Maria wines from a dedicated Villa Maria wine truck (Photo: Villa Maria)
Attracting 30,000 visitors each day from August 4-7, the multi award-winning festival in Oxfordshire combines live music, contemporary arts and an array of theatre, craftsmanship and dining experiences in the stunning lake and woodland surroundings of Cornbury Park near Charlbury.
Over the course of four days, festival-goers enjoyed music from the likes of Robert Plant, Goldie and the Flaming Lips alongside Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Grigio, Rosé & Pinot Noir wines.
Guests were able to relax in the tranquil surroundings of the dedicated Villa Maria Wine Garden, including a ‘bach’ (a New Zealand-style holiday hut) and a wine truck.
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Billed as a “decadent and immersive celebration of festival traditions” Wilderness is set within Cornbury Park, the home of of Lord Rothewick’s. The programming is based around “eight pillars”: music, food and drink, talks and debates, theatre and arts, outdoors, workshops, wellbeing and family.
Among the other wine options at the festival this year was a pop-up bar run by Noble Rot, while food offerings came from chefs Raymond Blanc, Skye Gyngell, Virgilio Martinez and Hix.
Meanwhile a debate hosted by chef/restaurateur Angela Hartnett featured Geordie Willis (creative director of Berry Brothers & Rudd), Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew (founders of Noble Rot Magazine and Wine Bar) and Ruth Spivey (creator of Wine Car Boot). The debate covered topics such as the natural wine, the march of English sparkling, why alcohol levels are dropping, whether the Prosecco bubble will burst and the impact of climate change.
Random fun festival fact
The Sunday cricket featured more than 20 streakers – a Wilderness record.