Oddbins revamps 40% of its Burgundies

Oddbins has revamped its full Burgundy range, with around 40% of the wines new to range.

“We identified in the market have extremes of generic blends to a price point, and the top end, which is unaffordable for most customers. You’ve got this gap in the middle so we had the aim of finding sub-£25 Burgundies that have a sense of place, and a story behind them,” buyer Ana Sapungiu told db.

“The idea was to bring a point of interest into that mid-range, whether through a lesser-known appellation or old vines that deliver amazing value, or wines that are being made by a younger winemakers,” she said.

Sapungiu identified around four of five promising new winemakers whose wines she has added to the range. These include Nicolas Potel from Potel Aviron in the Mâcon who is doing “amazing value for money” entry level old vine Aligoté and Chardonnay at the £11 – 12.50 mark, as well as premium organic small-scale cuvees of terroir-driven wines in Beaune under the more premium Maison Roche de Bellene label.

Other include a “bright, characterful” selection from Justin Girardin, the 25-year-old nephew of winemaker Vincent Girardin, including a Bourgogne Blanc 2014 retailing for £15 and a Pinot Noir from Savigny-les-Beaunes, Les Gollards 2014 at £19 – but Sapungiu is determind to see more from him in due course.

It has also some older vintages from Remoissenet, which is under new ownership and producing low yield, concentrated, barrique aged wines. These include a Chablis, Amiral Vernon 2014, as well as Chardonnays, Saint-Romain 2014, Pernarnd-Vergelesses 2014 and Meursait ‘Les Cras” 1er Cru 2014, which retails for £55

It has also added wines from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, albeit on a smaller scale, which Sapungiu says has a “nice vibe” and is producing good value wines particularly in the Swaartland.  Chile is set to be next, Sapugniu said, along with further additions to the Australian range.

“Every year we try to do something different and take a look at a category that we feel is under-represented in the UK, and we bring them into focus,” she said.

Previous regions that have benefitted from this include Puglia, Sicily, Portugal, Greece and Germany, and these have seen notable sales increases.

“Every time we do something a bit crazy in the category, the momentum carries on. When we started with Portugal, the category was very small, but it has built momentum every year and not it is commercially very important for us, it is probably half the size of Italy for us. But even in a classic country like Italy, you ask ‘what else is there that is interesting?’,” she added.

Consumers have reacted very positively, she continues, arguing that Oddbins is in a “unique position in the market” that means it can get away with being “a bit left-field” and different.

“People expect that from us – to be less mainstream,” she said.