Villa Maria: staying on the radar

Villa Maria’s first ever chief operating officer talks to the drinks business about a new brand for the UK, how to raise the profile of Hawke’s Bay and why this producer’s biggest selling wine in China is white.

Having built an international career working for major advertising agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi and Ogilvy & Mather, with clients ranging from Unilever to McDonald’s and Singapore Airlines, Richard Thomas joined the New Zealand wine producer at the start of this year as its first COO.

Entering the wine business with this FMCG background, Thomas acknowledged the challenge of adapting to a sector where major brands are a rarity. “It’s a myriad of complexity; just look at the shelves,” he remarked. “You have country as a sort of brand name, some varieties are almost brands and then there are definitely brands – Villa Maria is a brand.”

Despite the challenge of such a fragmented industry, Thomas insisted: “We can help consumers have confidence in what they’re buying, but brand building is often as much about accepting about what you’re not going to do.”

Just a few weeks after launching a range of lower alcohol wines into the UK under the main Villa Maria umbrella, the company has now introduced Left Field, a brand it inherited with the 2012 purchase of Hawke’s Bay winery Te Awa, and has since adapted to incorporate additional grape varieties and regions.

The initial Left Field offering includes a Nelson Sauvignon Blanc, described by Thomas as offering “a slightly different profile but still very recognisably New Zealand”, a Gisborne Albariño, a Marlborough Pinot Noir, a Hawke’s Bay Merlot and Malbec, and finally an East Coast Pinot Gris.

Targeted at the UK on-trade via Matthew Clark and the independent sector, the range retails for £13-£17.20 per bottle and is described by Thomas as a “bit more approachable” and “aimed at an audience who enjoy wine but are not pretentious.”

“I don’t want to dumb it down, that’s not what we’re about,” he insisted. “We’re just trying to reach a different type of person. Look what cider’s done – it’s found a different way to talk to audiences.”

The launch is accompanied by a trio of Te Awa single estate wines, featuring a Chardonnay, Merlot/Cabernet blend and Syrah, all from Hawke’s Bay and carrying an RRP of £17.75 for the white and £19.40 for the two reds.

Looking more broadly at New Zealand’s position in the global wine market, Thomas remarked: “New Zealand is doing great overall when you look at the numbers, but it’s also done a good job of making sure that the vast majority of products we bring out is high quality. We’re not awash with rubbish and we need to continue that.”

Complementing this reputation for consistency, he pointed to “a real sense of experimentation in New Zealand at the moment. At its core, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are the drivers, but there’s a lot of work going on to explore what could be the next big thing for us, as well as new selling and distribution structures.”

Having arrived at Villa Maria with the company riding high on eight years of “strong growth”, Thomas is nevertheless realistic about its position. “We’re still a tiny part of the global wine industry,” he acknowledged. “We punch above our weight but we still have to make sure we remain on people’s radar.”

With Villa Maria the largest landowner within the prime Gimblett Gravels area, Thomas echoed other producers in his belief that Hawke’s Bay as a whole – New Zealand’s second largest wine region – is well-positioned to develop its international profile. However, he suggested: “Perhaps it needs a little more clarity of focus around the story Hawke’s Bay is telling.”

Even so, Thomas does not advocate choosing a single grape variety as a flagship, as Central Otago and Marlborough have done so successfully. Instead he flags up Chardonnay, Syrah and Bordeaux blends as “three things coming out of Hawke’s Bay that are really special,” with room left over to shout about Gimblett Gravels in particular.

With his international background, a key part of Thomas’ remit is to direct Villa Maria’s focus as it seeks to expand its export business still further. After New Zealand Winegrowers confidently predicted that the US will become the country’s largest export market by the end of this year, Thomas confirmed that it is indeed “one of our big focus markets” at Villa Maria.

However, having spent the last nine years based in Hong Kong, he also picked out Asia as a market where he “passionately” wants to develop Villa Maria’s business. “I hope we’re at a tipping point,” he remarked. “Villa Maria has been there a number of years and we’re really starting to see growth and acceptance.”

Despite the dominance of red wine in China’s wine consumption boom, Thomas reported: “We’re seeing good growth in white in China particularly; our biggest seller is white.”

By way of explanation, he observed: “New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is a very distinctive style of wine; that’s why it’s been so successful in other markets. Once people try it, they just go ‘wow’, and that’s what’s happening now in China.”

Despite the overall decline of wine shipments into China last year, which was blamed on the country’s austerity drive, Thomas welcomed this policy. “The corruption crackdown has been really beneficial for us,” he remarked. “We can now start building a brand that’s not all based on a bubble and gifting. People are buying wine because they want drink it, not just give it to someone.”

As for other Asian markets, he highlighted South Korea, where opportunities have opened up thanks to the free trade deal signed between this country and New Zealand at the end of 2014, as well as Vietnam, thanks to its French heritage and resulting wine-friendly cultural legacy.

While the Villa Maria winemaking team continues to benefit from the expertise of Alastair Maling MW, the decision by founder and chairman Sir George Fistonich to bring in Thomas, who has in turn already appointed a global head of marketing, offers a clear indication of where the business’ current priorities lie.

“George is a very future-focused man, which is great because that’s why I joined – to carry on George’s vision for this business,” concludes Thomas. “His view of the future for the wine industry is marketing and brand driven so that’s why he brought me in.”