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Vente Privée to ramp up flash sales of top wines to UK market

Published:  27 May, 2014

Flash sales site vente-privee.com is looking to ramp up sales of prestigious wines as UK customers are flocking to the site in search of big-name bargains.

Vente-privee.com says it average wine sale in the UK is turning over 10,000 EUR.Vente PriveeVente-privee.com is looking to ramp up sale of prestigious wines in the UK after customers demonstrated a thirst for them.

Vente-privee.com associate co-founder Xavier Court told harpers.co.uk that it is averaging turnover of around €10,000 per wine sale, which usually span three to five days.

"Since our official wine launch at the beginning of this year, we have been continuing to host between four to six wine sales on our UK site per month. We aim for at least one Spanish wine, an Italian wine, and Bordeaux wine and a wine from the Bourgogne region every month, as these are the overall categories that have shown the greatest interest with our UK shoppers.

"Some of the most popular sales these past months have included: Barolo, Amarone, Chianti from Italy, Rioja, Ribera del Duero from Spain and Bordeaux, Bourgogne and Rhône Valley from France. We have also noted a great demand from our UK customers for prestigious wines (grands crus) and so our aim for the second half of the year in the UK is to further increase this type of offer. Per sale, we are averaging a turnover of €10,000, a figure that we are very pleased with and that we aim to increase as vente-privee's wine offer becomes better known in the UK," Court said.

It is currently running a sale of St Emilion's Premier Grand Cru Classé B Château La Gaffelière. This estate is owned by Léo de Malet Roquefort, the third generation of the same family to own the 22 hectare property. It produces on average 10,000 cases per year.

The estate's top wines are on offer - one bottle of 1999 Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé Château la Gaffelière can be picked up for £49, discounted from £66, while the 2010 vintage, which scored 93 Parker points, is on sale at £62, down from £81.

Vente-privee.com is looking to ramp up sale of prestigious wines in the UK after customers demonstrated a thirst for them.

Berry Bros & Rudd has the 2000 vintage on offer for £70 per bottle.

Vente Privée kicked off flash wine sales in the UK back in March, and said it was planning up to eight sales a month. It has more than 650,000 members in the UK, and claimed its wine sales would offer regular discounts of around 40%.

Prior to the site's wine launch, Vente Privée carried out three wine test sales in the UK, selling 20,000 bottles at a time. The flash sales last for between three and five days, and last year the firm sold 3.3 million bottles of wine throughout Europe, worth €36 million, which was an increase of 20% on 2012.

It has already had flash sales of Spanish wine Bodegas PradoRey earlier this month and had planned a Chateau d'Yquem sale for May 11, but it was postponed "due to planning constraints" the day before and there are no details available for its reschedule.

Speaking to Harpers.co.uk back in March Court, said: "The UK is not a huge market for us but it will become one of our largest markets. It's very important for us. It shows very big potential."

It has strategic partnerships with major wine brands across Europe including Chapoutier, Albert Bichot and Lurton, and sells wine mainly from France, Spain and Italy. It also sells a small portion of German wines as well as some from the New World.

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