Top 10 wine trends of 2012 – part 3

Rosé forges ahead

You might be forgiven for expecting rosé to be running out of steam by now, but evidence from across the trade suggests that consumers are becoming ever more open-minded about the occasions for enjoying what used to be regarded as a summer drink.

Siobhan Gillespie, London sales manager for Haynes, Hanson & Clark, offers real evidence for the deseasonalisation of rosé. Revealing that the company put in a fresh order to its Provençal producer as late as October, she notes: “We’ve never made such late shipment.” For Gillespie, rosé’s rise is thanks to “a trend towards it being consumed as more of a white wine”.

2011 saw concerns raised by on-trade data analysts CGA Strategy that rosé’s growth was being hindered by a limited presence at higher price points.

Pointing out that “rosé consumption remains in the mainstream, branded sector, ie Gallo and Blossom Hill, where competitive pricing and discounted deals remain prevalent”, CGA’s client relations manager Mark Newton offered evidence that rosé’s on-trade performance was lagging behind other categories.

While the Anglia and London regions saw double-digit value increases for most wine sub-categories in the year to the end of June 2011, rosé experienced an uplift of just 4.6% in Anglia and 3.3% in London during the same MAT period.

Although headline data suggests that the category is restricted by price point, there is evidence to show that in certain corners rosé is breaking well above the entry level. Gillespie summarises the situation at Haynes, Hanson & Clark, saying: “We wouldn’t want to sell anything more than £15 but we do sell a lot around the £10-12 mark.”

Meanwhile one of the UK’s biggest rosé suppliers offers a bullish prediction for category growth. In Autumn 2011, Blossom Hill’s UK marketing manager Liz Ashdown claimed that the UK rosé category is “only just touching the surface of what can be achieved”, suggesting that incremental growth of £235 million is well within reach.

Describing rosé as “really key to attracting new consumers coming into the wine market”, Ashdown explains: “They say it has the sophistication they want from wine but it hasn’t got the heaviness”. As part of brand owner Percy Fox’s efforts to bring rosé to a wider audience and increase the frequency of purchase, Ashdown points to work aimed at broadening the category’s appeal.

“By going into some dryer styles, it will help consumers to buy a little more frequently and to drink it with food,” she suggests, although she adds: “The heartland for rosé is still the sweeter styles and we need to drive that still further.”