New Oz regionality range aims at 30-somethings

Published: 23 July, 2008

A new 7.99 range of Australian wines has been launched by Percy Fox, with a big emphasis on regionality.

7th Continent, which is being aimed at the on-trade and multiple specialists in the off-trade, features wines from every main Australian region, with the exception of Tasmania.

Carmel Kilcline MW, wine development manager at Percy Fox, said that the range was aimed at the wine drinker who grew up' with Australian wines in the early 1990s, and was now looking for something not too in-your-face, and something that has more on the palate'. She added that research had shown that many wine drinkers in their 30s opt to buy out' of Australia, and head for the Old World.

The first four wines to be included in the range are a 2005 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio; a 2005 Clare Valley Riesling; a 2004 Yea Valley Merlot; and a 2004 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. A further three wines will be added later in the year: a 2005 Yea Valley Chardonnay; a 2003 Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon; and a 2004 McLaren Vale Shiraz/Grenache.

All of the wines are made by Hugh Cuthbertson of Cheviot Bridge, a virtual' winery that owns neither wineries nor vineyards. He said: The plan wasn't to blow Jacob's Creek out of the water. We decided that that part of the Australian category was already well covered, so there was little point in going after it.

There was an opportunity to bring smaller, interesting parcels to the UK, and that was the start of the 7th Continent project. We tried to bring wines that are not so much unusual, but have a real feeling of place.

There's no point in having a Dolly Parton Chardonnay or a heavily-oaked Barossa Shiraz, because they're already here.'

Kilcline added that she was keen to add a Tasmanian wine, but with a minimum volume requirement of 2,500 cases, this was not possible.

And Simon Lawson, Percy Fox's general manager, who said he hoped the brand would create a sizeable niche', added that the sales target for the brand would be in excess of 100,000 cases across Europe.

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