The wine sector is looking to learn a few lessons from cider this summer as new 'wine over ice' propositions hit the UK market.

Champagne house Piper-Heidsieck has announced plans to promote Piper-Heidsieck Piscine to consumers this summer.

The company claims the drink, which is simply Champagne over ice, originated in the south of France. It will be promoting the serving suggestion through an off- and on-trade campaign this year, suggesting consumers use either normal ice or freeze champagne into cubes and add them to the glass.

"This new way of enjoying Piper-Heidsieck is an impressively simple serve," said Lindsay Brown, marketing manager for Piper-Heidsieck at Maxxium UK. "Our summer marketing campaign will target a wide range of consumers at high-profile events."

South African winery Stormhoek, meanwhile, has launched Couture, a rosé wine formulated to be consumed with ice.

CEO Jason Korman said the popularity of rosé and the success of Magners Cider 'over ice' prompted it to develop the wine.

Gallo Family Vineyards has launched a campaign aimed at encouraging consumption of its pink wines over ice this summer, called Rosé on the Rocks.

"We ran a campaign in France, which worked very well, and a trial in the UK," said Jane Hunter, marketing director, western Europe.

"We ran the trial in the on-trade, where outlets experienced an uplift in rosé sales of around 51%."

This summer's nationwide campaign is also aimed primarily at the on-trade, but Hunter says the intention is to roll it out to off-trade retailers.

"There is definitely an opportunity in the off-trade for this campaign, which we will be looking at in due course," she said.

The MET office is predicting a good summer this year, which will make this a key testing period for the 'over ice' proposition.

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