Vignerons and winemakers Tom Keelan and his wife Rebecca Willson founded The Pawn Wine Co. in 2002 to take on the corporate, soulless wine corporates. No longer content to be pawns in the global wine game, they set out to make small quantities of hand selected wine from alternative grape varieties such as Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Fiano, Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio, Shiraz, Montepuciano and Sauvignon Blanc grown in the Adelaide Hills and Langhorne Creek to create artisanal wines of provenance.

 

This philosophy has proved extremely successful, and now the brand has a loyal following of customers of all sizes, from individuals to bars and hotel groups.

Tom and Rebecca's business is all about creating something bespoke and refined using hands-on viticulture and oenology - traditional production methods, the careful use of indigenous wild yeast fermentations, minimal intervention and fine European oak barriques for aging. In keeping with its production methods, the vineyard also utilises best practice environmentally sustainable principles and is a member of the Sustainable Australia Winegrowers (SAW) Program, ENTWINE and is accredited under Freshcar.

Having created beautiful wine, it is vital that it reaches customers and wine-drinkers in the very best condition. That's why they turned to KeyKeg when looking at packaging for larger hotel groups and craft wine bars who have already embraced the idea of wine in kegs because they can serve wine by the glass without the risk of oxidation and waste, allowing them to offer their customers greater choice and premium quality wines by the glass. For the retail trade, where space is always at a premium, there's the added benefit that there's no need to store empty kegs – they can simply be flattened and recycled.

By using KeyKeg, it also means that sustainability principles are also extended to the packaging thanks to the keg's circular design and use of recycled material.

Pawn Wine's El Desperado Rosé is now available in 30L KeyKegs in recognition of the growing rosé market segment and the diverse range of drinkers rose attracts, particularly 21 to 31-year olds who are quaffing the most of this delicate pink tipple. This demographic is also much more open-minded about purchasing wine in cans, kegs and other types of packaging – they are happy to move away from the traditional glass bottle.

The Pawn Wine Co and KegKeg have a lot in common. Both are committed to producing the highest quality products in a sustainable way but, perhaps as importantly, they want to disrupt established markets and challenge traditional players at their own game. Afterall, customers deserve a choice.

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