rosemount meal matchers wine

Treasury Wine Estate has launched a four-strong ‘food-centred’ range of wine under its Rosemount portfolio.

The Rosemount Meal Matchers range from the Australian brand is rolling out now to 900 Tesco stores, Bargain Booze and the Nisa estate.

It comprises a cabernet merlot blend matched with pasta; shiraz to go with steak; sauvignon blanc for seafood; and a chardonnay to suit chicken (rsp: £6.99).

Designed to inspire busy mealtime shoppers who have “less wine knowledge”, the quartet comes in distinctive ‘chalkboard effect’ bottles with prominent writing that clearly spells out in large letters the variety of wine and what sort of food it best goes with.

The innovation would drive the relevance of wine to the everyday meal occasion, said Caroline Thompson-Hill, head of marketing for the UK and Western Europe at TWE. It followed global research from Kantar Alcovision that showed the everyday meal at home was the second biggest occasion for wine but had been under pressure from other alcohol categories in recent years.

Rosemount Meal Matchers - which was introduced in Australia last summer - would simplify a category that could be “very intimidating” for those less involved in wine, Thompson-Hill added.

The initial reaction from retail buyers had been “very positive”, she said. Buyers had referred to the concept as a “relevant and customer-focused” piece of NPD.

“This is due to the innovation being built specifically around a category driver to meet a consumer problem, avoiding confusion when shopping the wine category,” Thompson-Hill said.

TWE is supporting the launch with 102 sampling days in Tesco stores in the wine, meat and fish aisle, alongside print and in-store activity.