When becoming a member of the Association of Australian Boutique Winemakers Inc. you are supporting the only membership umbrella covering the entire small winemakers' community. The AABW was formed in 1996 to give a voice to the minority group in the wine industry. The AABW's purpose is purely one of marketing. By 1995 the word boutique was not widely used in the wine industry - in fact Dr Max Lake was the rare Australian winemaker who at that time documented the word Boutique to describe his wine.