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News
Campo Viejo ditches crianza
Campo Viejo has dropped the crianza cue and opted for varietal labelling in an attempt to attract more consumers.
The well-known brand from Rioja has replaced its crianza with Campo Viejo Tempranillo 2010 following research which shows that almost 70% of wine drinkers consider the grape as the most important factor when deciding what to buy.
Pernod Ricard, owners of the brand, also believe Tempranillo could be a flagship for Spain, comparing its potential to New Zealand’s success with Sauvignon Blanc.
“We see a clear opportunity to further grow the Spanish wine category,” said Simon Thomas, Pernod Ricard’s deputy managing director for wine in the UK.
“Through our insights and consumer research, we know that consumers are looking for more balanced and progressive wine styles and as the UK’s number one Rioja wine brand, we are well-placed to drive this growth by championing the quality and characteristics of Tempranillo from Rioja, which has the potential to achieve for Spain, what Sauvignon Blanc has for New Zealand.”
Continuing, Thomas explained, “Our research tells us that grape variety is consumers’ first buying criteria, with 69% of wine drinkers considering grape variety as important, or very important, in their decision-making process.
“We’re enabling retailers to tap into this opportunity with a premium-quality wine showcasing the best of the Tempranillo grape, which our research has shown to score better overall than Campo Viejo Crianza on every measure, including purchase intent.”
Campo Viejo Tempranillo 2010 will be on shelves in April at an RRP of £8.55.
Meanwhile, Pernod Ricard has also launched a “fresher and fruitier expression” of Tempranillo with the Campo Viejo Vintage 2011.
The new Rioja has been crafted to attract non Spanish-wine drinkers into the category, particularly those who prefer New-World styles.
Campo Viejo Vintage 2011 will be available to on- and off-trade retailers in August at an RRP of £7.79.
Interesting. Surely they could have included Tempranillo on the label on the Crianza. And if their research shows Tempranillo so important why isn’t it on the younger but “vintage” labelled wine?. Puzzling.
Presumably the “Tempranillo” will not be a Crianza so NOT a “wine aged for at least two years, at least one of which was in oak.”
Not quite the same thing as a relabelling exercise. How long will this new Joven wine be aged in oak and in bottle?
I suppose they are being pressured to reduce costs by supermarkets.
An interesting comment Henry.
As a marketer I must agree with him. Recently purchased bottles of the new 2010 vintage suggests that they have not seen the inside of an oak barrel.
The resulting wine will do nothing to enhance the brand reputation of this previously eminently drinkable wine. Its the classic case of sacrificing the quality for greater profit.
What market research did they actually perform?
Unless future samples are more in line with past vintages I for one will find anaernative suppliers.
Campo Viejo Crianza has been one of my favourite wines; deep in flavour without being overpowering, suitable for most occasions and at a reasonable price. I was disappointed that the Crianza has been dropped but more disappointed (and a little outraged) that the “new” version (Joven not Crianza) is in an almost identcal bottle (same label colour etc) which is potentially misleading. The new version is no better than many “3 for £10” type Tempranillos but is being sold at a similar price to the original Crianza.
I agree with Roger that “this wine has not seen the inside of an oak barrel”. This is further demonstrated by the green rioja logo on the rear of the bottle as opposed to the red logo of the crianza. I have nothing against Joven Riojas, indeed I usually drink them whilst in Spain as they are lighter for daytime drinking. It is just the way Campo Viojo have gone about the “rebranding”.
I have to say that the whole thing has rather left a bad taste (no pun intended!!).
As a Riojana I have been really puzzled by the new Campo Viejo Tempranillo, sold at crianza price when it is in fact a younger wine that has not been on a barrel. On the shelves and online still being described as Crianza when it is obviously not!!!!! A couple of weeks ago I bought it without realizing the difference as the labels are so alike. But the taste is that of a cheap young wine (cosecha), drinkable but NOT Crianza. I don’t think you would get away with this in La Rioja.
My husband and I loved the crianza,and also bought the new Tempranillo labelled wine in error.It is a big dissappointment and we have already ordered other wines from Rioja.
What a shame,we will not be buying it again.
Yes this is a joke. Purely for commercial reasons.
It is not a crianza, and it is now only tempranillo whereas before it was tempranillo, garnacha and another grape (mazuello?) and there is now certainly no vanilla flavour about it.
Tastes like cheap rubbish and I won’t be buying it again.
This is sad news indeed. My wife and I love the Crianza grape/wine – it’s much more mellow than the rugged Tempranillo – and thus has a smoother and more palatable taste to it. This is absolute madness in my humble opinion – as, in the past, I have noticed the C V Crianza disappearing rapidly from the shelves rather than the Tempranillo. Can anyone suggest an alternative Rioja with the Crianza grape being the dominant?
At last an explanation as to what happened to the delicious Crianza that I only just discovered before it “disappeared”. What a shame as the replacement does not taste great to me. As the above poster reamarked, can anyone suggest a suitable alternative?
Slightly off topic but still concerning Campo Viejo………..
What’s happened to the Campo Viejo Rose ?
It’s impossible to buy in the UK now. The main supermarkets used to stock it but it has not been seen on any of the shelves since the summer.
All online wine shops seem out of stock too.
You can get a sparkling rose, but the one we cannot find is the Tempranillo rose, it’s a wonderfully light and very drinkable rose.
We managed to bring a couple of bottles back in the suitcase from Spain when we were on our summer hols, but it has all but disappeared in the UK !
I used to drink more crianza than reserva because of the price difference and the similar quality of the crianza. Obviously
this Tempranillo has not been aged enough to qualify as as a crianza so we a have drop it also.
I have just read these comments from 2014 whilst educating myself about the various Rioja’s We were in Spain last August/September and bought 120 bottles of Crianza 2013 for about £4.00. a bottle to bring home. So obviously still on the Spanish market??
lucky you,bought crianza,then had to get tempranillo,crianza far superior,wish I had bought a good few crianzas while in Madrid last week