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Here’s how you can win one of ten £1,000 travel bursaries to visit California

31 May 2022 By Louis Thomas

To celebrate the inaugural launch of its immersive Eureka! events, California Wines is offering the UK wine trade the opportunity to win one of ten travel bursaries. Each travel bursary has a value of £1,000, and all you have to do to enter is attend Eureka! on the 8th or 9th June. Because the only thing better than a virtual trip through California is a real one!

“Eureka” is the state motto for California. Though it goes back to the gold rush of the 19th century, it underscores the spirit of discovery and innovation which prevails in California to this day – particularly with regard to winemaking.

Devised by California Wines, Eureka! honours this pioneer tradition with an immersive and educational tasting event which utilises cutting edge technology to tell the ongoing story of California.

The Virtual Vineyard will serve as a 4D trip through California’s unique terrains and climates. Master Sommelier Will Costello will virtually walk you through the incredible diversity that makes this such an exciting and vibrant region.

The Wines on a Mission walk-through exhibit will showcase what California’s producers are doing in response to climate change. A self-pour area, developed with Eurocave, will provide you with the opportunity to sample these vintner’s wines for yourselves.

The tasting opportunities do not end there. In The Loft, you will be able to try an extraordinary selection of wines produced by everyone from micro-producers to multi-generation farmers. Information on the story behind each bottle will be accessible by scanning the QR codes throughout the experience.

For a taste of the laidback luxury of the California lifestyle, wander through the Sensory Garden. Tucker Taylor, head of the Culinary Gardens at Kendall-Jackson in Sonoma County, will be on hand to talk about the garden design and his approach to sustainable gardening. Executive chef Justin Wangler will be providing cooking demonstrations as he prepares dishes to pair with the sustainably produced wines.

The inaugural launch of Eureka! will be taking place at Truman Brewery, The Boiler House, Shoreditch over the two days in both the mornings and afternoons. Afterwards, it will then be travelling on to global markets. There’s sure to be more than a few eureka moments as you explore this oenological paradise.

To celebrate the launch, ten winners will be chosen from those in attendance to receive the travel bursaries.

To register to attend and be in with a chance of winning a bursary to fun your own journey of discovery, follow this link.

To be eligible to enter, you must:

Be working in the UK on-trade or off-trade in a wine role at the time of entry.
Be a UK resident and able to travel to California between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.
Be 21 years of age or over at the time of travel.
Physically attend Eureka on either 8 or 9 June.

Competition winners will be notified on 17 June and will have Economy Class airfares and hire car costs up to £1,000 covered by the California Wine Institute for a trip to visit California wineries. All other travel costs incurred in relation to the trip will be the exclusive cost of the travel bursary recipient.

To learn more about Eureka!, click here.