LIWF DEBATE: Demystifying wine

After last year’s successful gathering of press and retailers at the London International Wine Fair for the launch of The Semillon Blanc, Australian Vintage decided to repeat the exercise at the exhibition and unveil a new development at the company.

This time, however, it wasn’t a single new product but a novel approach to the packaging of its entire McGuigan Classic range, with the ambitious aim of “demystifying wine for the UK consumer”.

Those present at the lunchtime event, including the drinks business, Yvonne May from Wine Australia, Lulie Halstead from Wine Intelligence, and Sainsbury’s wine buyer Julian Dyer, were shown an updated look, which includes prominent, colour-coded taste descriptors on each wine, such as “rich, spicy, bramble fruit” for its Shiraz and “fresh, zesty, citrus fruit” for the Sauvignon Blanc.

The addition was in fact inspired by 2010’s launch of The Semillon Blanc, which, because it was an original wine style for the British drinker, included a tasting note on the front label: “fresh, tropical fruit”.

As Paul Schaasfma, UK and European general manager for Australian Vintage, explained: “We have taken The Semillon Blanc from nothing to 27,500 cases and doubled the Australian category for Semillon in the UK. We are trying to take Semillon to the mainstream.”

Part of this success he attributed to the style note on the front of the bottle, which McGuigan believes, is just as suitable for The Semillon Blanc as it is for the rest of the varieties in its Classic range. “It has sold better off promotion than any other launch we’ve done and we believe that is because of the taste descriptors.”

Dyer was quick to congratulate McGuigan on the move and said, speaking of the supermarket sector, how “hard it is to shop the fixture”, which he described as a “a wall of wine” and “confusing” for consumers, but that style cues were extremely important in helping buyers make choices.

“The customer has said to us that they want to know what it tastes like, more than how much it costs.” However, he added that the retailer wouldn’t merchandise their entire range by style as opposed to country because “wine is a provenance product and comes from a specific place, but within that [country arrangement] we can add a style guide”.

At which point Schaafsma reminded that the new packaging was designed for McGuigan’s Classic range only, which is designed to demystify wine for novice consumers. “At £8-£10 regionality is terrific but this is about talking to the consumer who doesn’t understand wine, we need to engage consumers from £5 up to £7, we need to create something new to give them confidence,” he said.

Dyer agreed, and added that at higher prices “provenance is important because it gives credence to the quality ladder and the day you move away from it, everything will break down.”

Australian Vintage CEO Neil McGuigan, who was also present, then explained, “We put the style description on the front label and found it [The Semillon Blanc] sold – the wine and the descriptor worked. And if it worked there then we should do it for the rest of the range.”

It was also announced that four of the Classic skus are going into Sainsbury’s complete with the descriptors, and as McGuigan said: “If this is a success, then we may need to think about whether we do it with our other products, although it is maybe not appropriate for Tempus Two.”

Dyer then contributed the last words: “Most wine is bought for an occasion, whether that’s a family meal or a treat, and therefore it is one of the most risk-averse purchases people make.” Then, he added: “And our assumption about what the consumer knows is way too high.”

Views from the panel

Lulie Halstead, CEO, Wine Intelligence

“Wine is consumed with other people and it is still connected with social status, which is good, but it adds a level of intimidation: a feeling of ‘how am I going to get it right’… and as a result younger drinkers are some of the most conservative because they are scared of getting it wrong. So recommendations are very important and looking like a bottle of wine should look like is also important.”

Yvonne May, regional director for the UK, Ireland the EU, Wine Australia

“20 years ago Australia was trying to demystify wine for the UK consumer and it did this by stating the grape variety. And I remember the early days at Rosemount whne the wine would state the flavours too, although this was on the back label. However, in a mature market, you need to layer back in the complexity, for example using regionality, which is one of the key quality cues.”

Julian Dyer, wine buyer, Sainsbury’s

“Most wine is bought for an occasion, whether that’s a family meal or a treat, and therefore it is one of the most risk-averse purchases people make. And our assumption about what the consumer knows is way too high.”

Neil McGuigan, CEO, Australian Vintage

“We put the style description on the front label and found it [The Semillon Blanc] sold – the wine and the descriptor worked. And if it worked there then we should do it for the rest of the range.”

Paul Shaasfma, UK and European general manager, Australian Vintage

“At £8-£10 regionality is terrific but this is about talking to the consumer who doesn’t understand wine, we need to engage consumers from £5 up to £7, we need to create something new to give them confidence.”

Patrick Schmitt, June 2011