What If You Could Tweet Your Way to New Zealand?

PURCHASE, N.Y., May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A good glass of wine is a great escape at the end of a long day.  But what if your escape could be real?  What if taste and smell could drag your other senses along?  What if simply drinking wine and tweeting your thoughts on it could score you two airline tickets to New Zealand? Now it can.

Brancott Estate, the world's bestselling New Zealand wine, is announcing the #WhatIf challenge in which participants are invited to use their noses, palates and Twitter accounts to share their thoughts of the producers' wine, via a creative 140-character take on the traditional tasting note. "Social media, and Twitter in particular, has changed the way we share our thoughts and feelings with the world, and has democratized subjects once dominated by a select few," says said Patrick Materman, Chief Winemaker for Brancott Estate. "The #WhatIf challenge is revolutionary for us, because it allows Brancott to hear how wine drinkers, not just wine experts, experience our wines."

Beginning today, wine enthusiasts need only to taste one of the wines from the Brancott Estate portfolio — which includes an award-winning range of Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot Noirs, and a Pinot Grigio — and craft their version of a tasting note, taking great care to utilize each of the characters allotted in the tweet. Two airline tickets to New Zealand will be the reward for one author's efforts in using creativity and judicious care to articulate their take on the taste of the Brancott wines.

The challenge closes on June 13, 2011, providing just about a month ripe with opportunity to compose the winning tweet. Each applicant is limited to one submission per day for the entry period, and all entries must be original and authentic.  By entering, contestants agree to the rules and regulations found on the Brancott Estate What If Facebook page.

Additional information and complete rules and regulations for #WhatIf can be found at www.facebook.com/BrancottEstateWhatIf.

ABOUT PERNOD RICARD

Pernod Ricard USA® is the premium spirits and wine company in the U.S., and the largest subsidiary of Paris, France-based Pernod Ricard SA. In July, 2008, Pernod Ricard completed the acquisition of the iconic ABSOLUT® Vodka brand from the V&S Group.

In addition to ABSOLUT®, Pernod Ricard USA's leading brands include such prestigious spirits as The Glenlivet® Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Chivas Regal® Scotch Whisky, Jameson® Irish Whiskey, Seagram's Extra Dry Gin®, Beefeater® Gin, Plymouth™ Gin, Martell® Cognac, Malibu®, Kahlua® Liqueur, Hiram Walker® Liqueurs, Pernod® and Ricard®; such superior wines as Jacob's Creek® and Brancott Estate®; and such exquisite champagnes and sparkling wines as Perrier-Jouet® Champagne, G.H. Mumm™ Champagne and Mumm Napa® sparkling wines.

The company is based in Purchase, New York, and has roughly 1,000 employees across the country.

Pernod Ricard USA urges all adults to consume its products responsibly and has an active campaign to promote responsible drinking. For more information on this, please visit: www.acceptresponsibility.com.

SOURCE Pernod Ricard USA