Viña Undurraga relaunches premium sparkler in UK

Viña  Unduragga has relaunched a new premium sparkling wine into the UK market, a year after withdrawing its best-selling entry-level sparkling wine from Majestic.

The Chilean wine brand is looking to boost its revamped and repackaged Estate Sparkling Undurraga Brut Royal, targeting the on-trade and premium off-trade. The wine, which is made from 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir grapes from Leyda using the Charmat method, will retail at around £10, marking a step up from its previous entry-level sparkling wine, which came from grapes grown in Maipo, Colchagua and San Antonio.

The Royal range was originally launched in the UK in 2014 following success at the SWA 2013, but after seeing only modest take-up, the bodega has refreshed the packaging of both the Brut and Rosé to make it stand out more from its entry-level wines and be more attractive to a different consumer.

The Chilean winey also signed up with distributor Eurowines earlier this month, in a move to take its distribution more into the independent and off-trade market. The Royal range is set to hit shelves in November, he said.

Europe & Africa export manager José Masot told db it was “very tricky” to sell in the off-trade because consumers buy what is on promotion, and that has to be funded by the chains and producer.

“We want to focus on the independent where we can get more focus and consumers want more information,” he told db.

Masot said the decision to take its best-selling entry-level wine out of the multiple off-trade last May after five successful years came of the back of price pressures, high levels of promotion, and “extreme competition” from Prosecco and Cava which are in larger volume and less expensive to produce, especially given the poor harvest in Chile this year.

He said at it’s height in 2012, the sku sold more than 300,000 bottles a year in the UK off-trade and he was keen to see it back on retailers’ shelves, provided it was “at the right price point that makes sense”.

However he argued that Chilean producers needs to communicate its premium quality better and build a strong brand outside the multiples, giving clearer signs to the consumer around quality and the breadth of wines available.  The harvest was 30% less this year, he pointed out which was pushing up the price and coupled with the value of the pound Chilean producers were facing “a big problem” for Chilean producers in the UK.

“Some brands are everywhere, which is confusing for the consumer,” he said.