In 2017, 19 Crimes became the first wine to use an Augmented Reality (AR) app (the app was later renamed Living Wines Labels in 2018) that allowed customers Two limited edition vintages sold out in 2011 with “virtually no promotion” (19 Crimes, “Canadians”). The Treasury Wine Estates brand launched 19 Crimes in 2011 to a target population of young men aged between 18 and 34 (Lyons). This celebration has been capitalised upon by tourist industries and more recently by wine label 19 Crimes. In short, the convict heritage is now something to be celebrated rather than shunned.

Many today now view Australia’s convicts as “reluctant pioneers” (Barnard 7), and as such they are celebrated within our history. During the 1970s Australia’s convict heritage began to be discussed more openly, and indeed, more favourably (Welch 597). Importantly, however, the wider political and social reluctance to engage in discourse regarding Australia’s “unsavoury historical incident” of its convict past continued up until the 1970s (Jones 26). Many convict establishments were dismantled or repurposed with the intent of forgetting the past, although some became sites of tourist visitation from the time of closure. “Normal” punishment could include solitary confinement, physical reprimands (flogging) or hard labour in chain gangs.įrom the time that transportation ceased in the mid 1800s, efforts were made to distance Australia’s future from the “convict stain” of its past (Jones). Transportation meant exile, and “it was a fierce punishment that ejected men, women and children from their homelands into distant and unknown territories” (Bogle 23).Ĭonvict experiences of transportation often varied and were dependent not just on the offender themselves (for example their original crime, how willing they were to work and their behaviour), but also upon the location they were sent to. While the convict system in Australia was not predominantly characterised by incarceration and institutionalisation (Jones 18) the work they performed was often forced and physically taxing, and food and clothing shortages were common. Convicts were transported to Australia from England and Ireland over an 80-year period between 1788-1868. Convict Heritage and Re-Appropriating the Convict ImageĪustralia’s cultural heritage is undeniably linked to its convict past. Rather, in exploring the marketing techniques employed by the company, particularly when linked to the traditional drink of celebration, we argue that 19 Crimes, while fun and informative, nevertheless romanticises convict experiences and Australia’s convict past. The marketing of sparkling wine using convict images and convict stories of transportation have not diminished the celebratory role of consuming “bubbly”. Using Augmented Reality and interactive story-telling, 19 Crimes wine labels feature convicts who had committed one or more of 19 crimes punishable by transportation to Australia from Britain. One enterprising company, Treasury Wine Estates, markets a range of wines, including a sparkling variety, called 19 Crimes, that draws, not on European traditions tied to luxury, wealth and prestige, but Australia’s colonial history. As a “new world” country – that is, one not located in the wine producing areas of Europe – Australian sparkling wines cannot directly draw on the same marketing traditions as those of the “old world”. Production of Australian sparkling wines began in the late nineteenth century and consumption remains popular. The resulting effervescent wines were first enjoyed by the social elite of European society, signifying privilege, wealth, luxury and nobility however, new techniques for producing, selling and distributing the wines created a mass consumer culture (Guy). Originating in England and France in the late 1600s, sparkling wine marked a dramatic shift in winemaking techniques, with winemakers deliberately adding “fizz” or bubbles to their product (Faith). Indeed, sparkling wine is rarely drunk as a matter of routine bottles of such wine signal special occasions, heightened by the formality and excitement associated with opening the bottle and controlling (or not!) the resultant fizz (Faith). Sparkling wine is especially notable for its association with secular and sacred celebrations. The social roles of alcohol consumption are rich and varied, with different types of alcoholic beverages reflecting important symbolic and cultural meanings.

19 crimes wine flavors