Seasonal Blush Rush – Retail: Rose Wines

Rosé wine, undoubtedly the wine trade’s flavour of the month, can look forward to a ‘pink-tacular’ summer

Branded rosé is growing strongly as it becomes more popular, which is partly being driven by a slight decline in prices.

Californian rosé is still the dominant force in the market, and growing strongly. However, it is losing share against more rapidly growing countries such as France and Portugal. Australia, Italy and New Zealand are also growing strongly from a small base.

French and Spanish wines have been the most successful at attracting new buyers, while Portuguese branded rosé has been able to drive a big increase in the volume that its shoppers buy. In essence, this means winning a bigger share of their total wine spend and increasing the importance of the category.

As the biggest rosé region in the market, California, not surprisingly, is overtraded in the top three retailers. Sainsbury’s
also concentrates on French and South African rosés, while Tesco and Morrisons significantly overtrade on the strongly performing Spanish brands.

Among all rosé brands, E&J Gallo remains the most popular, although Blossom Hill is increasing its buyer base. JP Chenet is new to the top 10 most popular brands this year, performing very strongly. Kumala, Echo Falls and Corbett Canyon, meanwhile, are also gaining popularity.

Overall, the category is performing strongly – and as it traditionally performs best in summer, this provides a good platform for growth over the next few months.  db June 2006

TNS is a leading global provider of market information. We provide research, advice and insight on market segmentation, advertising and communications, new product development and brand performance. The TNS Worldpanel data is based on our continuous panel of 20,000 households. TNS tracks the alcohol purchases across all major grocery multiples and co-ops. For further information, please contact David Buckley, business director for TNS Worldpanel on 020 8967 1513