Fizz is flying as still wine takes a dive

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barefoot wine

Top launch: Barefoot Refresh - E&J Gallo

Barefoot Refresh is a bid to stop thirsty wine drinkers switching to lager or cider during the barbecue season. Given that last summer was a decidedly damp affair, the success Gallo says this range of lower alcohol (9-10% abv) lightly sparkling red, white and pink wines has enjoyed is impressive. Gallo says the product’s raison d’être is sheer refreshment. It certainly helped refresh things in the US, where it became the biggest wine launch of the past decade.

Looking for grocery’s most sparkling sector? You’ve found it: fizzy wine is up a staggering £134.1m.

Not that big branded wine houses have seen much of that. Sparkling wine is increasingly dominated by own-label and retailer-exclusive Prosecco. The top product is Plaza Centro, sold only through Tesco, and own label accounts for almost a third of the sector’s £665.3m sales.

“Prosecco itself is the brand,” says Pernod Ricard commercial director Chris Ellis, pointing to the relentless deals on fizz as proof of a lack of brand loyalty. The losses of Freixenet, Martini and own-label Champers (only posh brands such as Moët are up) also reflects this.

Tesco, for example, kept Plaza Centro and Dino (another exclusive) on permanent alternating deals (one at £12.99, the other at £6.50) until October’s range review, when it cut Centro’s price to £6.50 permanently. Other wine brands are being forced to take similar measures to justify their place on shelf.

“Range rationalisation has started in wine,” says Nielsen analyst Marc Aston, with Morrisons also “challenging key suppliers to pitch for space. Wine is such a fragmented market that range rationalisation may seem a good fit. Consumers get confused by the masses of products on shelf.”

Aldi and Lidl’s growing use of wine to drive footfall has put a stop to the price rises seen in recent years, with the mults cutting prices to shore up sales. Last Christmas saw deeper deals; the average price of a bottle of wine remained flat at £5.37 for the year.

Many are splashing out on marketing to avoid overreliance on price. Accolade puts Hardys’ growth down to its £4m sponsorship of the Ashes, while Jacob’s Creek’s Made by Australia ads and Wimbledon sponsorship drove 2.2% growth on volumes up 8.3%, although increased deals eroded price.

Ellis says Campo Viejo’s £17m growth was boosted by its Streets of Spain festival. Yellow Tail has delivered wine’s greatest gain, worth £23.7m, thanks to sampling and experiential campaigns. Casillero del Diablo is up 15.5% on volumes up 17%, driven by TV ads, says Concha y Toro GM Simon Doyle: “The growth supports the value of such activity.”

TOP 5 Still wine				SALES
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
Total volume change: –1.8%			Total Category	5,368.60	–87.4	–1.6
			Total Own Label	1,158.20	–44.9	–3.7
1	1	Hardys	Accolade Wines	311.1	8.5	2.8
2	2	Blossom Hill	Diageo	228.1	–13.7	–5.6
3	3	Echo Falls	Accolade Wines	148.6	–14.4	–8.8
4	6	McGuigan	Australian Vintage	113.3	18.9	20
5	4	Gallo Family Vineyards	E&J Gallo	103.4	–15.9	–13.3

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TOP 5 Sparkling wine				SALES
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
Total volume change: 26.3%			Total Category	665.3	134.1	25.3
			Total Own Label	216.7	27.3	14.4
1	1	Plaza Centro	Plaza Centro	46.4	16.2	53.6
2	2	Freixenet	Freixenet	26.9	–2.5	–8.6
3	3	Valdo	Valdo	26.1	0.1	0.5
4	4	Martini	BBFB	23	–0.6	–2.4
5	8	Dino	Dino	22.7	8.7	62.8

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TOP 5 Champagne				SALES
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
Total volume change: 2.7%			Total Category	326.6	7.5	2.3
			Total Own Label	42.2	–2.3	–5.2
1	1	Moët & Chandon	MHUK	43.2	1.1	2.7
2	3	Lanson	Lanson UK	31.8	3.8	13.8
3	2	Veuve Clicquot	MHUK	28	0.1	0.4
4	4	Nicolas Feuillatte	Nicolas Feuillatte	20.8	3.6	21
5	6	Bollinger	Mentzendorff	13.8	–0.7	–4.7