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McGuigan reveals plans to tap thirst for single varietals

Published:  30 November, 2017

McGuigan has revealed a line a NPD poised to hit shelves next year in a bid to tap Brits’ increasing thirst for single varietals wines.

The Aussie producer revealed it’s adding two Tempranillo to its portfolio in 2018 - McGuigan Torode Tempranillo which will be launched in May, followed by McGuigan Black Label Tempranillo next October.

The NPD had been developed in response to a growing demand for single grape varietals wines, especially in supermarkets, said the Australian winery, adding blends were on the other hand in decline.

“Wine, is at times, a complicated and nuanced category and single varietals can help steer consumers and help with food matching and decision making in that environment, while also providing consistency and familiarity,” said chief winemaker, Neil McGuigan.

In addition, he told Harpers McGuigan would continue planting Malbec to build on the success of McGuigan Black Label Malbec, launched last year, which he said had played into a growing interest in the Australian style that showed “juicier, softer characteristics”.

“In the last year we’ve had a great success with Malbec and we want to build on that next year,” said McGuigan.

The NPD news follows McGuigan’s release of two new Riesling wines - McGuigan Classic and McGuigan Black Label, into the UK last month, which it introduced to build on the UK’s growing love affair with the traditional German grape.

“There’s a lot of love for Riesling and other more esoteric or even traditionally European grape varietals and Australia has a diverse enough climate to create some interesting expressions,” said McGuigan.

In the past year, the Australian Riesling category in the UK recorded an impressive 47.9% hike in value sales to £14.4m (Wine Australia: UK off-trade still wine sales trend report, May 2017).

McGuigan predominantly puts the growth down to Riesling from OZ being easier to understand than the different German styles, such as Kabinett, Spatlese and Auslese.

“Australian Riesling in particular, with its drier, fresher style compared to European style coming from Germany and Austria, is seeing growth as consumers appreciate the consistency and approachability that it provides,” he said.

Being a drier style, Australian Riesling was also a food friendly wine and a fantastic varietal for ageing capabilities, he added.

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