Virgin Wines doubles premium wine range

Virgin Wines has more than doubled its range of higher priced wines and boosted its South African range on the back of an “exciting” harvest.

In January, Virgin Wine boss Jay Wright said he was keen to look beyond the retailer’s £8 – £12 core price bracket at both the higher and lower segments, as its finding showed that while Virgin customers still buy supermarket wine, they tended to look for “special occasion” wines online.

Speaking to db at its tasting last week Wright said. “People come to us for their better quality wines and while we know we don’t get 100% of our customers spend – they do buy at supermarkets too – they tend to get their better wines from us.”

As a result, the ecommerce retailer has added around 150 line at the £11.99 – 14.99 bracket over the last year, “not just because it’s great wine, but because it’s about the style and value for money [we are finding] at that price,” buyer Dave Roberts explained.

“What we’re doing better is selling small parcel wines, and our best tool we have for this is our wine advisors, who work on many levels, increasing the spend with us,” Virgin Wines head wine buyer Andrew Baker told db. “They are more effective at selling a diverse portfolio, so we can still go for some more wacky wines.”

Baker said the retailer had added more than 200 wines in the last year, but it was possible to evolve the range with diverse wines and a lot of flexibility due to the flexible model of the business, its mixed cases and it’s ability to hand sell wines.

“It might seem too many, but if you see it and you know it is valid and where it fits the range, “ he said. “It is a very good tool for us, as it means we can invest in something that is relevant and exciting.”

Among the new wines are a selection of finer New World wines, which includes a New Zealand Pinot Noir from John Forrest Collection Bannickburn (RRP: £22.99), a Familia Zuccardi Aluvional La Consulta Malbec 2011 (RRP: £60)  and Paul Hobbs Russian River Chardonnay 2014, from Sonoma (RRP: £49.99).

South Africa’s potential

The online wine retailer has also added around 40 new wines from South Africa, after a “very exciting” harvest, which was particularly attractive given the position of the rand to the pound.

“It is a very good vintage. And it struck me that the producers are more confident in their own skin – they are not trying to make Old World or French wines, their level of understanding has improved,” Baker told db. “So although they’ve had good vintages before, they are now making great wine styles, they don’t feel forced anymore and are more comfortable, and you can see that in the glass.”

Other areas Baker is keen to develop within the range include Portugal and Eastern Europe, having added a selection of new wines from the Loire to plug gaps in the range. These include a more premium Muscadet, Domaine La Haute Fevrie Clos de la Fevrie Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie 2015 (RRP:12.99), a new pink fizz, Domaine Baumard Cremant de Loire Cartie Corail Brut NV (RRP: £14.99),  and a Domine Denise Jamain Les Fossiles Reuilly Blanc  2016 (RRP :£14.99).

It has also developed its range of English wines with the addition of three sparkling wines from Hambledon Vineyards, two still and one sparkling wine from Bolney Estates, and three from Ridgeview.

Wright added the company was sourcing “anywhere we can get the best value – “South Africa has had an incredible harvest, the value is superb and the quality the best we’ve seen. And Spain is always a go-to place, and Italy.”

Roberts agreed there was good “bang for your buck” to be found in Spain as long as you were working with the right producers. It said it has seen growth in wines from Cariñena, which provided better “quality to price ration than I can’t think of anywhere else at the moment” and Navarra.

Italy had enjoyed strong growth following a recent revamp, while Australia was also selling well, Roberts added, however the situation was tougher for Chile and Argentina, due to the smaller than average harvest last year , as well as in California and France.