N.Z. wines campaign in Britain

Press, 19 May 1984, Page 20

N.Z. wines campaign in Britain

DIANA DEKKER,

in London

In the next few months Montana wines will be extensively introduced onto the British market.

Montana will be operating through Seagrams in an area already pioneered by Cooks New Zealand Wine Company, Ltd. Cooks, in three years, has brought its annual distribution in this country up to 15,000 cases. Seagrams, which has a 40 per cent shareholding in Montana, aims at selling 10,000 cases in its first year of operation.

Montana wines have been available on a small scale in London for some time, but Seagrams, concerned for the first time with their marketing, are preparing to market them “busily.”

“We’ll be seeking to get distribution in the south east and Scotland, mainly in wine bars, restaurants, and specialist outlets,” Mr David Donald, of Seagrams, said in London. He said targets would include well-known chains like Victoria Wines and Oddbins. Seagrams would also aim to sell to one of the larger grocery multiples. “The United Kingdom is a very big outlet for wine,” he said. “It is true that you can get a huge variety of European wines, but we feel there is room for wines from more countries of origin. Wine consumption in Britain is going up 15 per cent a year. “The feeling is that we can build up quite a substantial market here.” He said Seagrams would be selling five types of Montana wines. Three of these would be “vintage varietals” — Cabernet Sauvignon 1979, Marlborough Chardonnay 1982, and Sauvignon blanc 1982. These would have a shelf price of about £3.50 a bottle. There would also be a dry red and a dry white wine labelled

“winemakers' selection," and expected to sell at about £2.60 a bottle.

Seagrams’ first drive will be at the London wine trade fair at the Kensington Exhibition Centre, from May 22 to 24. There will be a small stand there to introduce the wine to the trade. In the next few months posters will be distributed around London, and cards describing the product given to wine bars and restaurants. Cooks’ British drive will reach a pinnacle in June when more than 1000 British pubs will be offering “a taste of New Zealand."

The promotion, spearheaded by Cooks’ European manager, Mr Richard Goodman, will bring together major New Zealand food and wine interests in London for the first time. The New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, the New Zealand Dairy Board, the New Zealand Kiwi Fruit Authority, and Cooks are all

taking part. While New Zealand does its best to offload some of its surplus wine in Britain, the European “wine lake” continues to grow.

The European Economic Community has announced an investigation into the massive underestimation of last year's wine production, which had left the community, according to the “Financial Times,” with “a wine lake on a scale to make Bacchus blush.” British officials estimate that the surplus is sufficient to fill 16,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. European Commission sources estimate that unsold stocks may amount to 3.2 billion litres — 1.4 billion litres higher than member states' original projections. The wine headache, the “Financial Times” predicts, will reach “migraine proportions” when the prospect of Spanish accession to the E.E.C. is taken into account.