Fine wine news

Quick response, or QR codes, is the latest buzz word in the marketing industry and wine estates have been eager to catch onto the trend, with Chateau Brown becoming the latest to introduce them.

The Pessac-Leognan grand cru estate will use QR codes for its 2010 vintages, which will allow consumers to scan the label with their smartphone from the shop or restaurant, sending them to a mini-site. From here they can access more information about the wine and the chateau than the information given on the wine label. It will also be available in French and English.

Meanwhile, QR codes will be used by the chateau on all of its advertising material immediately.

"It's a new way of talking about our wines," explained Jean-Christophe Mau, manager of Chateau Brown.

"We have to be trendsetters with this type of new communication technology. It gives us more scope for talking about the care that goes into our winemaking process than back labels do."

They are not the first grand cru classe to catch onto the trend, however. Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron adopted QR codes last November.

Posted by John Yates