Campo Viejo seeks growth with Garnacha

Campo Viejo is adding a Garnacha to its range as part of the Rioja brand’s plans to capitalise on the current strong growth of Spanish wine in the UK market.

Campo Viejo’s new Garnacha

Due to launch in September this year, the 100% Garnacha will sit alongside Campo Viejo’s Tempranillo with an RRP of £8.69 and 14% abv. The new wine will be packaged in the Burgundy-shaped bottle that was used by Campo Viejo in the brand’s early days during the 1960s.

In contrast to the Pernod Ricard-owned brand’s Tempranillo, which uses grapes from across the three regions of Rioja, Campo Viejo’s Garnacha comes exclusively from the Alfaro and Aldaneuva areas of Rioja Baja.

Lucy Bearman, Pernod Ricard UK head of marketing for wine, described the wine as offering consumers “a fruitier and easier drinking style than the more robust Tempranillo.”

Pointing to a current 16% year-on-year growth in UK sales of Spanish Garnacha, which she cited as the country’s second most popular grape variety after Tempranillo, Bearman, noted “a willingness for consumers to explore a bit more.”

With this exploration supported by the ongoing popularity of Spanish cuisine within the UK, Bearman remarked: “We know that there is consumer demand for Garnacha and as the leading Spanish wine brand in the UK, we are perfectly positioned to bring a premium branded offering to the market.”

Although listings for the Garnacha are yet to be confirmed, Bearman indicated that it would be positioned alongside the Campo Viejo Tempranillo. Referring to the brand’s distinctive packaging, she remarked: “Having more faces of that yellow label will really help to drive more people towards these Spanish wines.”

Nielsen off-trade data to the end of 2012 showed 16% volume growth for Spanish wine, which now holds a £520 million share of the UK market. Alongside this performance, Campo Viejo reported 33% value and 44% volume growth, with an average price that sits £1.75 above the overall Spanish category.

Having posted UK sales of £40m last year, the brand now represents 8% of the total Spanish wine market, with Bearman confirming: “There is room for growth.”

In addition to this Garnacha launch, Campo Viejo is planning to build on last year’s “Live Uncorked” campaign with a new consumer event in London from 3-6 May.

“Streets of Spain” will bring stallholders from Barcelona’s Boqueria food market to the Southbank Centre, accompanied by a 70-cover pop-up restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Angel Pascual from Llucanes. The event will also feature Spanish urban street artist Okuda, winemaker seminars and a shop, La Bodega.

In addition to this, Campo Viejo is preparing to unveil an upmarket update to its packaging. The new design will include a die-cut crest, capsule logo, greater prominence for the Rioja and varietal cues and winemaker’s signature. The back label will feature a QR code taking consumers to a mobile website where they can access more information about the wine.

In order to support each phase of this year’s activity programme, Bearman explained: “We have developed a fully integrated campaign that will guarantee our consumers are able to engage with Campo Viejo through a number of different mediums whether in-store, through advertising or by visiting Streets of Spain.

“We believe it is essential to continue to offer our customers creative marketing activities that will help to drive footfall and drive value sales for our trade customers.”