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Tesco adds PiWi wine to Finest range
The supermarket chain has added a new white wine made from a PiWi grape variety to its Tesco Finest range.
“The Floreal grape variety was first planted in 2018 and grown in the Languedoc and Loire Valley regions of France,” Matt Downes, Tesco’s buying manager for France, told the drinks business. “When the product developer at Tesco who worked on this wine visited the grower it was clear that this particular grape variety would really hit the mark for great taste at an accessible price.”
The flavour of the wine, which is designated as a ‘Vin de France’, is described in a press release from the supermarket as akin to that of an unoaked Chardonnay, with citrus and tropical fruit notes.
The Floreal variety is a hybrid of Villaris and a descendant of Muscadinia rotundifolia.
PiWis, an abbreviation of the German ‘Pilzwiderstandsfähige Reben’, have become a hot topic in the wine industry in recent years due to their disease resistance, especially to the mildew, which can be the scourge of vintners ahead of harvest. Although they are an increasingly popular option for producers practicing organic viticulture, the Tesco Finest Floreal is not organic.
While there are still questions about the standard of the wines that PiWis can yield, Downes said that was “really proud” of the wine’s quality: “So much so that we’ve deemed it suitable to sit in our Finest range.”
“The creation of grape varieties resistant to disease and other ailments that are now becoming available is the successful outcome of around 40 years of work and research by the wider industry,” he explained. “As this work continues to progress, we’ll strive to always be at the front end of innovation.”
This is not Tesco’s first foray into the world of PiWis, with the supermarket recently introducing a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Souvignier Gris (a crossing of Seyval Blanc and Zähringer) from Paul Mas to its roster. Paul Mas has been something of a pioneer of PiWi varieties, bringing varieties including Floreal to the market.
Pitching PiWis
One issue that might arise with trying to pitch any PiWi wine to consumers is that these varieties are largely unfamiliar to consumers. Asked about how Tesco might overcome this with its Floreal, Downes said: “We have been working hard to ensure we present the wine using simple, clear terminology that our customers are familiar with at all touch points, including on the front and back bottle labels.”
He also argued that the price point, £8 without a Clubcard, would “appeal to many wine shoppers”.
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