Asda relaunches its Wine Atlas range

Asda is relaunching its Wine Atlas range as part of its summer refresh, which includes boosting its range of canned wines. 

Speaking to the drinks business at last week’s tasting, director of beverages at Asda’s IPL International Procurement and Logistics division, Clive Donaldson said the range, which was launched ion 2013 had been ahead of its time, and though a brilliant idea, had had “a few flaws” that the team have learned from for the new range.

The Wine Atlas 2.0 will therefore be new and interesting, but not “too esoteric”, he said. “Accessibility is the absolute key, accessibility of new and interesting styles, and there are plenty of those.” The idea is to have a rolling range of parcels priced between £6-7, with the first range targeting a Mediterranean theme, with more reds coming in for the autumn and winter.”

The range will also sit in a bespoke “hot spot” along the fixture to avoid the discovery ranges “disappearing… into the wall of wine”.

“It’s difficult for customers to read across the shop, so by bringing them all together we’re hoping that the customers go there, and if they find one, then maybe the customer might want to try another one,” he said. “And the point-of-sale (POS) support will very much bring the message across to customers about what we’re trying to do with that range.”

The new wines include a Greek Sauvignon Blanc Rhoditis (RRP: £7) from producer Cavino, a Greek indigenous variety complemented with 15% of Sauvignon Blanc; an “interesting” Carricante (RRP: £6.50) from Sicilian producer Settosoli; a full-bodied Monastrell Rosado from Jumilla (RRP: 6.50); an Ile-De Beauté Corsican Rosé (RRP: £7), a Provencal style rose that includes local grape varieties to provide interesting aromatics; and a Jaen (RP: £7) from Mencia to provide an on-trend, lighter red.

It has also retained the Wine Atlas Fetească regală (RRP: £6), from Banat in Romania, which has been highly successful in the range since it launched and built a very loyal following, selling around 40k cases a year, Donaldson said.

The retailer has also revamped it small format range, boosting the number of wines in cans, which retail for £2.50. This, Donaldson said, had been driven by the desire to appeal to new, younger customers who were falling out of the wine category, .

“We’re trying to do something about it, with new occasions that people might not have considered wine for before,” he said.

Wine in cans included Pica Pica Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc, Grigio Rose and White Zinfandel (RRP: £2.50).

It has also revamped its rose range for summer, with the addition of new premium special